The Unfortunate Life of Korina Pachis
by RightLeftWrong
Summary: "Sorry, I can't hear your evil, maniacal plan over the fact that I've already pretty much guessed it based on previous experience and several documents I've found lying around as well as information I've obtained by hacking into your computers. I've been at this game since I was sixteen. You really think you can beat me now? You made me. Now suffer the consequences of that."
1. Raccoon City Tapes I

A/N: Hello, welcome to the fic. Just want to start this off by thanking you for getting this far. I know it can be kind of confusing, but this is basically in a flashback format where Korina is safe, out of Raccoon City, and is being interviewed. There will be other OCs peppered throughout the story, but the focus will ultimately be on Korina. She will date, though I haven't decided who all exactly she will date, but it'll be a grand time. Well, for us, not really her.

As you can tell by the title, the poor girl will be put through a lot. This isn't supposed to be a happy story. She'll lose a lot more than she'll gain. But that's not to say there won't be happy moments. The first few chapters are heavily angst ridden (I am going to go back and put happier scenes/lines/whatever) but the first few chapters are also her reliving the nightmare that is Raccoon City. So here we are, ready to get on with the show. Hope you enjoy, and leave a like and comment, whether it's constructive criticism, rambling, or whatever.

* * *

"Ms. Pachis?" The light is blinding. But Korina welcomes it nonetheless. She thought she would never see such a bright light again sometimes. The feminine voice is the fifth one they had sent in to try to talk to her. All of the others tried bribing her, but they failed in the end. It isn't that Korina doesn't want to talk. It's mostly that she doesn't know what to fucking say. "Ms. Pachis, we have questions we would like to ask you."

Korina doesn't answer, maintaining her silence, but she knows they'll never let her go unless she comes up with something to say. Should she feign memory loss? The city was blown up. Raccoon City was gone, and the documents she had seen... The things she had learned about the city she loved and the company she had wanted to work for one day. She needs a story. A story that isn't the truth, because the truth is what will land her in a grave.

"Before you answer, I would like to inform you. I'm a special agent with the FBI assigned specifically to question you. You've been here in holding for two days. I need to ascertain you weren't apart of the Raccoon City Disaster, but a quick look at your nametag on your bag has told me enough," she says, taking a seat in front of Korina. The light still blinds her, but she can make out an angular face, one that has wrinkles and has seen many, many things. Has probably a thousand secrets too. "You're Korina Pachis, granddaughter of immigrants from Greece, though your father much prefers American culture. You attended Raccoon City High School, currently in your sophomore year. So you were probably in Raccoon for some part of the disaster."

It's an obvious answer Korina already knows, but she still asks, "So you gonna kill me?"

The agent is quiet. The question is hesitant, genuine. "Why would I need to kill you?"

"Because it's a coverup. What they did, they can't let anyone know. The illegal experimentation they solicited in the city-"

"Enough." A firm command, but not harsh. Korina watches her make a gesture to the window, and she waits. "Ms. Pachis, how much do you know?"

Korina already opened her mouth, and keeping it shut now will do nothing. "I know several senators, representatives, and cabinet members were involved with illegal dealings with Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. This includes human experimentation, development of viral weapon agents, and only God knows how many coverups." Korina swallows, her heart heavy as she bitterly murmurs next. "I know Chief Irons and his involvement with the orphanage was for experimentation. I know the t-Virus has been used to create more than just cannibal dead people. I know the government intended to use all of it on the battlefield."

The agent crosses her hands. "Ms. Pachi, they did not expect for you to actually know anything. I believe what you've said here goes above even my pay grade and clearance level."

"So you're going to kill me. I thought so," Korina sighs. She rests her head in her hands, hoping to hide her wobbling lip. She should have made up a story. She should have gotten out of here before they sent this agent to question her. But then again... nothing was out there waiting for her. Everything she had was in Raccoon City.

"On the contrary, Ms. Pachi, I would like to formally introduce myself. I'm Agent Neassa Mac, and I want you to start from the beginning." Agent Mac pulls a notepad and a pen from her pocket. "Where were you when this first started?"

* * *

_"Where was I when it started? Which part? The mansion or actually in Raccoon?"_

_"In Raccoon. We can discuss the mansion later."_

_"Don't bother. I only know about it due to some documents. You'll need to speak to a S.T.A.R.S. member. But when I first heard about anything in Raccoon... I was in school."_

Raccoon City's high school was the same as any average high school. There were cliques, and people who grew up together that no longer spoke due to the difference in their cliques. Korina was a small part in her high school's machine, mostly forgotten and largely ignored by teachers and students alike. She had a small group of friends, a handful really, and only two were ones she cared about enough to hang out with outside of school.

One of them was Jayden Douglas, son of Officer Raymond Douglas, who overheard his father talking to his mother about the cases. It had all been rumors for the most part, with all the denial and all the evidence to suggest Chief Irons was lying, but everyone who questioned it was shut down immediately. Korina never trusted politicians on principal, and Chief Irons rubbed her the wrong way. He denied, and she had no where else to get any other information. That was until lunch time, when Jayden sat down and said, "You guys aren't gonna believe this shit."

"You mean like the rumor you slept with Julia Roberts?" Kelly said in response, causing laughter to arise from Korina. The three were usually found together, even if they didn't look like they should be. Kelly was deep into grunge, almost a perfect poster child, with dark, deep skin and a crazy ability to do her own makeup. Jayden was every bit the bad boy his father hated, with long hair and a cigarette in hand usually, but still far from the level of grunge Kelly had. Then Korina, who preferred pastel colors and scrunchies and flats or heels like a good girl, rounded the trio out.

"Okay, that's true, but no." Jayden lowered his voice. Jayden usually laughed and joked, so to hear him serious was only a little alarming. "I heard my dad talking to mom about those cannibal murders. You know, the ones the chief keeps denying?"

Korina had been particularly interested in those rumors. Mostly because cases like that were due to high intensity drugs, typically of the hallucinogen variety, and even then that was still so rare it wasn't worth mentioning truly. Cannibal murders had mystery around them, always. "What'd he say?" Korina asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder to get it out of her way. Her scrunchie was not acting well today, constantly needing readjusting, but she handled it with grace.

Jayden looked around. "Only that they're definitely happening, and there's way more than they're letting on. We've heard about what? Three? Turns out there's more than that, heading closer to ten cannibal murders." Ten? Korina could hardly believe him, but he would never joke about something of this caliber. And he knew how interested she was in it. "Dad thinks mom and I should leave until everything cools down. I think he's wearing her down on it."

"What? Seriously?" Kelly whispered.

But it made sense. If Officer Douglas was right, then that was ten cannibal murders that were unexplained and with a lot of holes. He was an officer, and he was always on the front lines for some weird reason. He could be hurt, or they could hurt his family. Korina could understand where he was coming from, but it was very much unlike Officer Douglas to be afraid of anything at all.

"Yeah. She was dragging out the luggage this morning," Jayden confirmed, casually slapping at a fly on the table. He pulled a cigarette from his jacket pocket and a lighter from his jeans, flicking it to life. The drag went deep into his lungs and out in a foul smelling breath. "I mean, it is pretty scary though, don't you think? Cannibal murders happening at random..."

Korina rolled her eyes. "It's probably nothing. No doubt we'll get the real answers soon, and it'll turn out they were on some major drugs made the government or something," she said, dismissing it relatively easily. The rumors were confirmed, true, but it would never affect Korina, so what point was there in discussing it? Not a damn one. She could understand why a police officer feared for his family, but that was of little consequence to Korina personally. Her family wasn't involved in anything so dangerous, what with her mother being a pharmacist at the drug store and her dad a professor at the local college.

"Oh, hey, how is yia-yia?" Kelly asked, dragging the conversation away from cannibals and to something normal.

"She's good. She actually got sick yesterday, starting throwing her guts up. It was crazy," Korina replied.

_"What does yia-yia have to do with anything?"_

_"Other than dying in Raccoon City... not much at all. I'm just telling you how it happened."_

_"Fast forward. Where were you when the outbreak started?"_

_"I was with yia-yia and my brother."_

A week after Jayden told them the cannibal murders were real, he, his mother, and his sister had packed up and gone to an extended visit with family in Missouri. He was miserable as his mother saw the need to make sure he kept up with his school work, faxing any and all assignments over to the high school since she worked there. But he made it a point to call both Korina and Kelly on a near daily basis.

Up until then, there were more rumors about the cannibal murders, and a rather sudden influx of sick people all around the city. Korina's mother kept her from school because it was spreading around so quickly, and so Korina had little to do but stick around her sick grandmother still in the hospital, and her younger brother, who was also being kept home from school. Polo was in middle school, and his friends were all home sick anyway. He saw it as a blessing until he realized he had to stay at the hospital with yia-yia all day instead of lounging around the house.

"Are you thirsty, yia-yia?" Korina asked, looking up from her book to see her grandmother drinking from a near empty bottle.

"It's fine, egonne," her grandmother replied, speaking English out of habit since they were still in a public place. "I'll go to sleep soon anyway. There's no need to worry."

Korina nodded and returned to her book, one that had been assigned that she didn't mind reading. Shakespeare wasn't easy to read, but the teacher promised a quiz upon her return to school, so reading Hamlet wasn't exactly an option. While it was difficult, it was something to do that was marginally better than the mindless shows her grandmother watched. It was annoying, stupid, and now she misses it. How stupid she had been to take it for granted.

_"Focus, Ms. Pachi."_

The first groan she heard was a week before, followed quickly by a violent attack on the nurse that left her dead. Now she heard them frequently, and several of the staff had been bitten getting their violent charges strapped down and properly restrained to keep them from attacking others. A lot of residents who were here for a while started locking the door when family was present, and the Pachi family was no different. Korina ensured it was locked every time she was present, getting a chill every time she heard those groans. They didn't sound human.

There was a knock on the door. But it sounded different. It sounded weaker, like it was done on accident. Then it was done on purpose, frantically, almost desperately. Loud bangings that alerted all three present. Korina jumped to her feet and ran to the door, and she opened it carelessly, unaware of the threat at hand. Polo stayed where he was, but his body was lined with tension, and he leaned towards their grandmother.

She opened the door, and the doctor ran inside, blood covering his clothes. Korina had seen him around, usually being kind to nurses and patients alike. He was a general surgeon, but the recent influx of patients required his skills to be reach an even wider variety of patients. He slammed the door and locked it again. "This is one of the only rooms in this unit that wasn't undiagnosed," he panted, "so I assumed it was a safe room. Glad to see I was right about that at least."

"Doc, what's going on?" Polo demanded, rather loud, as he paced. "Why did you do that? You just about gave my grandmother a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry, I am, but- we have to get out of here," he said, moving to the windows. Korina was quiet as she listened to the door, more and more groans collecting outside of it. They were walking towards the room. "I hadn't realized just how quickly it could spread, even if we kept it as contained as possible here at the hospital, and most of the staff... I might just be the only one left... the only one who knows where it is. I was stupid to leave it!"

He was still being loud. And Polo's shouting earlier hadn't helped their situation. She didn't want to know what they would do if they got in, and the lock wouldn't hold against that many people. Korina snapped, "Keep your voice down." They were still outside, still pawing at the door, but it wasn't long before something else attracted their attention, and they were focused on other things. It was only then she attempted to solve the next problem. "Doc, what the hell is going on here?"

"It's too much to explain. But if you can get out of the city, I suggest you do it quickly." The doctor retrieved his keys from his pocket and threw it to Korina. "Get out while you still can. If you wait too long, you'll be stuck here to die too. Blockades will be set up soon, I suspect, to keep the outbreak contained."

"But what is going on? Why are you hiding? Why do you have blood on your clothes?" Polo asked, keeping his voice lower this time. "And- is that a bite?"

The doctor looked down at his arm for the first time. And grief washed over his expression as he saw the chunk that had been taken out of his arm. She didn't know what it meant at the time. But the doctor did, and it devastated him. Korina's grandmother had been silent the entire time, but she said in a gentle voice, "Doctor, is everything okay on the unit?"

"No, it's not. It's likely you and I are the last two living beings in this unit," he answered, taking a seat where Korina had been moments before. He almosts seemed to fall into it, his body giving out now that whatever had terrified him was temporarily not a threat. "And soon it will be just you. You still can't move. Your condition will worsen until death is imminent. You go anywhere, even if it's to get out of the city, and the chances of you dying are ridiculously high."

Korina's head was swimming. She still didn't understand. They couldn't be the last ones living on the unit. There were people outside walking around, so why was he saying they were the last ones?

_"I couldn't wrap my head around it. Zombies were supposed to be fictional, but even with the doctor, I still just couldn't bring myself to believe it. It was... too much for me to comprehend. Cannibal murders, the influx of patients in the hospital, the sickness spreading throughout the city, it all led to one conclusion that tied it all up with a pretty bow. An ugly truth I wasn't ready for."_

_"Zombies?"_

_"Yeah... zombies. The flesh eating, organ hungering, shoot 'em in the head if you want 'em dead... zombies."_

_"So did you leave the city?"_

_"No. I went home. Like a fucking idiot. Left the hospital by climbing down from the second story window, and used the doctor's car to get to the house. I thought mom and dad would head there as soon as possible, but three days later, they still weren't home. September 29."_

_"And your brother? Polo?"_

_"Stayed with me. There was no where else for him to go."_

_"Why did you leave?"_

_"We weren't given a choice. They- the dead and something else... they came for us."_

As dawn broke on September 29, Korina hadn't had a single wink of sleep since the first night her parents hadn't come home. Polo was impossible to please as food around the house dwindled- her mother was supposed to go shopping the day the hospital was overrun. Korina kept her brother away from the windows, but she saw plenty of it herself. Now she knew what the doctor meant, and she was terrified of what it meant for her grandmother. Yia-yia called that night to see if anyone was home. The call cut out just before she finished saying she loved them.

People were eating people. It didn't matter if they were infected or not. She had seen some of them munch on the dead organs of another infected and become so engrossed in it. She had seen dogs tear them and each other apart. And the other monsters- the ones with a long tongues who took out the power last night... were enough that she shook in every activity.

The government wasn't coming to help. They didn't spend long in the city before hauling ass right back out, finding it too dangerous to be there on the ground. But they damn well couldn't leave the city alone. Korina didn't want to know how they were going to get rid of the city. She just knew she had to get her and her brother out of there. She didn't know how to get out through anywhere but the main roads, and they were crawling with infected and were blocked off by accidents or abandoned cars or the few defenses RPD had tried to put up before they were ultimately overrun.

A rescue operation wasn't an option. She had to save both herself and her brother, and she had to do it quickly. A crowbar would only do so much for them anyway.

The best plan she could come up with to find an alternative route out of there was by going to the library. The library, however, was all the way across town, and it would take an act of God himself for the two of them to make it. She didn't know if the car would make it there anyway, again, due to the various disturbances on the road. And if they wrecked out... it would be the end.

She was in charge. It couldn't be the end of them both. So she spent the day preparing, getting them both ready and packing and all other manners of preparation

Polo was so young anyway. She needed him as safe as possible, almost completely removed. And removed was... here, in a closet. But he was too old for that. Polo would fight her to go with her. Polo had his own questions anyway, and Korina had tried to not lie to him, but there were some details he hadn't seen and didn't need to know about. Maybe if she told him-

"Mom!" Polo ran past her and to the door as her figure became all too obvious. Her mom would forget her house keys all the time, and Polo and Korina would watch her try to figure it out, wondering why she didn't put her house keys with her work keys. Her mom never deigned to answer such questions. "Korina, mom's home!"

Which made her suspicious now. "Wait, Polo!"

She wasn't ringing the doorbell. She wasn't trying to unlock the door. She was just standing there, still as a doll. Polo didn't care when he unlocked the door, and their mother's corpse faced them both. Korina's gut clenched, her heart hammered, and a horrible wish went through her head: she should have showed Polo what they would look like.

Korina reached her brother just before her mom lunged, and the crowbar Korina kept on her at all times came up, slamming into her mother's head. Polo fell flat on his ass, and Korina saw something in the road skittering their way. "Up, up, and be quiet," she commanded him, grasping his arm. Blood spread out around her mother's head. She was dead enough, unlikely to get up again any time soon.

First she went to her parent's bedroom and grabbed the two shotguns, the Glock, the crossbow her father used for hunting in the mountains, and the ammo she had stuffed into a bag yesterday. The monster was in her home, skittering around and listening for her and her brother. It felt like it was breathing down her neck, though that obviously wasn't the case. The claws were sharp and signaled it's location fairly well in such a small area. That much she had gathered from watching them before they took out the power on their street. Polo, who had no idea that sound would attract it because it was blind was shaking, vaguely whimpering.

Korina lifted her fingers to her lips in the universal sign to stay silent. She quietly placed the weapons into the bag, the same one her dad used for hunting too, but she kept the crossbow out. It would be quieter than the guns, and it would come with a far better chance for her and for her brother. She needed to avoid the front, and there was a missing part in the fence in the back to go through their neighbor's yard. But where would they go? She wasn't sure either, and she would just have to figure it out at another time. When they were out of the house.

The door banged open with a hiss, and she slammed her hand over her brother's mouth before he could utter a sound. She clamped a hand on her own mouth too, reminding herself she had to be silent as well. It was here, the tongue reaching out to sense the air. They were hypersensitive to sound. So much so Korina couldn't trust that crawling under the bed would do anything. Korina lifted the crossbow just enough to shoot it.

The monster followed the sound of the bolt breaking the wall, and while it was distracted on the opposite side of the room, far from the door, Korina and her brother somehow made it past the monster, stepping so silently despite the rapid, harsh beat in her chest. All it would take was one noise, and that thing would be on them in a heartbeat. She had to ensure that didn't happen. Korina was lucky Polo stepped where she stepped, and that she had snuck out enough times to be good at this. She hadn't even thought to give him those directions. She never thought this skill would be used for this.

The back door was open, thank god, and her mother was still on the floor. And she put her bag at the bottom of the stairs, right next to the door, where she filled it with a few keepsakes and momentos, mostly for Polo's sake. And with a small handgun the doctor kept in his car. She picked it up and handed it to her brother. It was time for them to face the world.

* * *

"Ms. Pachi, I would like to take a break here."

_Thank God_, Korina thinks,_ because I need it._ "Yes ma'am."

Agent Mac stands up and leaves her notes, walking to Korina. "I think you need to rest." Korina isn't sure she can. Nothing is the same, and nothing feels right. She can't even talk herself into not tensing up when the door opens for fear it will be an enemy. "I'll get you your own cell and a few blankets, so you can sleep some before we continue."

"No!" Not a cell. Not after- "I can't go in a cell. Please."

"Okay. Okay." Agent Mac looks around. "Give me a moment."

Korina is left to herself as the agent is let out of the room. Again, to herself. Talking about what happened is setting her nerves on edge, making her remember the things she doesn't want to remember. Raccoon City went to hell in a handbasket, and then they blew up the fucking handbasket. Her palms are sweaty, and she tries to rub it off on her jeans but is only successful in getting dirt on her hands.

Dirt. For a moment, it's blood, and Korina throws herself back from the desk.

The door opens. "The department is going to let you go. You'll be coming with me, to the hotel I'll be using. I upgraded to a double, so you can have your own bed and get some decent rest," Agent Mac says, and two officers release her from the cuffs on the table. She's forgotten they were there in the first place. "You certainly need it more than the rest of us. I'll ask more questions tomorrow, when you're ready."

"Yes- yes ma'am."


	2. Raccoon City Tapes II

A/N: Hiya! I present to you the second chapter of this fic. This will bring out the characters we already know and love, but it will still pay very close attention to Korina due to the fact this is her story. Korina is still recounting the events of Raccoon City, as she will for the next couple chapter.

This chapter already has a lot going on, so I couldn't find anywhere to add any like happy or joking scenes. So a severe lack of those here again. Despite that, I hope you enjoy and review!

* * *

The nightmares continued throughout the night, enough that even Agent Mac grew weary and just stayed awake. Korina tries, truly, but... all she can see is her home being ripped apart. The fires, fed by the death and destruction, that roared in her ears and heated her skin. The dead that didn't care they were on fire as they moaned, groaned, and slowly disintegrated. The lickers who would lay beside them cats. She finally began to get in decent sleep when Agent Mac shakes her shoulder.

Before going to the hotel, Korina really hadn't noticed much about the agent who is, more or less, interrogating her. Her skin is as dark as night, and her hair is puffed out in an afro that seems well taken care of to Korina. A particular sternness lines her features, making her more like a serious matriarch than a grandmother. A woman of great integrity and grit. Agent Mac. It's strange for Korina to see her now, though she doesn't quite understand how or why. Maybe it's because she should be dead.

"I'm sorry, but it's time to continue," the agent says, actually sounding guilty about waking her up.

Korina sits up, finding she finally reached the four hour mark. In the police department, she wasn't even getting thirty minutes. "Sure thing... where did we leave off?"

* * *

_"You watched them from the window?"_

_"Yes... After I would put Polo to bed. It was difficult, but he would succumb to sleep eventually. You know teenage boys."_

_"You're incredibly lucky that worked out for you."_

_"That's debatable."_

_"You're here now, aren't you?"_

_"..."_

_"Where did you go after leaving your home?"_

_"We ran a few blocks and then out into the street, where we ran into a rookie cop. Then we went to the RPD."_

She didn't know what to do or where to go, only that they had to keep moving. If they stopped for even a second, there was no promise of what would happen. Korina was hypersensitive, head on a swivvle and sometimes snapping so quickly to sounds she would make herself dizzy. Polo was whimpering quietly, but his hand clung to hers in a way it hadn't in years.

Korina found a dark spot that was at least relatively safe. Safe enough for a word. "Polo, are you okay?" she asked, turning to him. It was in that moment Korina realized he was nearly her height. When had he grown up so much? She didn't- just last week he was at her chest. What the hell-

"What are we going to do?" Polo asked, tears rimming his eyes. She tried not to let it affect her too much.

"We're gonna get the hell out of here, that's what. I need you to follow me, alright? Do everything I say, without question, and keep quiet. Okay?"

Polo wasn't so agreeable. He always liked to be independent, always stood out from the crowd in order to do something by himself. She could count on one hand how many times he asked her for help, and she could name those instances with surprising accuracy. They argued over the proper way to turn a television off once, simply because Polo didn't like using a remote to help him turn it off. So when he mumbled "okay" Korina felt her core plummet.

Korina paused, and she pulled her brother close to her. A hug. When was the last time they had done that? "I'm gonna take care of you. I promise, Polo." She didn't know how. She had no fucking clue how. But she had to do it. She didn't get him out when she should have. Now they were stuck in the middle of all of this, with no visible route out. Yet. Korina would make one herself if she had to. She would die before she let her little brother die, and she needed him to know that. Maybe he needed to know that too.

Her hair raised at the sound of a groan. Something was disturbed. Korina placed herself between her brother and the noise, lifting the crossbow she still held. Before she could pull the trigger and let the bolt fly, someone else had taken it down from behind with a bullet. If it could use a gun, it was obviously not an it and very much alive. Which could be bad for her if this very much alive thing wanted her to hurt. Korina let her bow drop, keeping a protective arm around her brother.

"Are you two alright?"

He was young. Early twenties, fresh out of the police academy from the looks of it. Incredibly attractive with a trim body, and a face that held a mild amount of baby fat. His hair was somewhere between brown and blonde, with a side part that let it fall around his face. Right now he was sweaty, so that hair stuck to his face where it might ordinarily work much better for him looks wise. The same as any other rookie fresh out of the academy. Korina had seen plenty of rookies come and go in Raccoon, having been so close to the Douglas family. The Douglas. Where was Officer Raymond?

Polo swallowed, and Korina could feel it occur to him for the first time that he was big enough to have a weapon too. "We're... alright enough," Korina answered, wary of the rookie. She didn't know anything about him, nonetheless what his real intentions were in helping her and her younger brother, two people who presumably would be of little to no use in this particular situation. A situation with dead bodies all around.

Still, he tried. "I'm a cop-"

"A rookie cop," Korina corrected, "and not with any of the other officers. When did you even get here?"

He was taken aback, as if he didn't expect it from her. Korina couldn't blame him. She had her pastel blue skirt on still, and a white top that was frilly and almost ornamental. She probably looked as young as her brother. But she was very much three years older. "I just got here actually. Do you know how to get to the RPD from here?"

RPD? What could possibly be there? Maybe Officer Douglas, and if he was there, he probably had another way out. But that was a big maybe, and it would bring them directly into the center of the city. It might be more difficult and more dangerous to get the hell out. Korina answered, "I do, but it's unlikely anything's there."

"I still have to check. I can better protect you from there too." He moved closer and stuck out his hand. A show of trust. "I'm Leon Kennedy."

Korina stared at the hand and looked back in the direction of her home. There was nothing left there. If her mother was gone, so was her father, and the dead would be infesting it soon enough. And that monster- that monster would rip apart her home. She could only go forward. That was the only true direction. "Korina Pachis, and this is my brother Polo." She took his hand, and she grasped it firmly like her father taught her.

"Good shake," he said amicably, with a smile, and she tried to ignore how solid his own hand was. "Are you from Raccoon City?"

"Born and bred," she answered before hearing more groans and- the skittering. They needed to be quiet. Silence was their greatest tool today. Maybe not an ally, but a tool to be used at their discretion nonetheless. "We have to go. It's not safe. Polo, stay close."

"Okay," he said, and Korina paused. She turned him around and pulled out the small handgun from one of her pockets. She turned him again and pressed it into his hand. The metal was cold, unfeeling of the reason for its probable use in the next few hours. Still, Polo was wide eyed as he started, "Why-"

Korina grasped his chin, made sure he was seeing her and only her. "It has five bullets. If you have to, use four to save your life. Use the fifth to..." She had to swallow. She was really telling her little brother this. This was too fucked up. "To take your life. They bite you, and it is all over. There's no respawn, no second life. If you don't have to use it, then don't use it. But if you do, save that last bullet. So it'll hurt less."

For them both. So he wouldn't become what their mother had, and so he wouldn't have to feel the bite. It hurt. It had to hurt. Korina kissed her brother's forehead before taking his hand again. It was sweaty. Probably her fault. "It won't come to that. I promise," Leon said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "You take point, and I'll watch the back."

"Fine. But stay silent. You'll get us killed if you don't."

_"We made it to the police department, but by then, everyone was gone. All of the main doors were locked so we had almost no way in. It was dumb as shit luck that we found someone else Leon had met and urged to the RPD. She was with him when he entered the city, looking for her brother. I told her he was on an extended vacation, that no one had seen him in months. He was a member of S.T.A.R.S. so I only knew him by word of mouth, but it was a big deal around the station when the program was cut after a mission gone terribly wrong. An alarm went off, like it was a goddamn dinner bell... and there were too many for me to protect my brother."_

_"Is that how he... passed?"_

_"No. We helped him up and over the fence. The barbed wire on the door had gotten fucked up somehow, probably by way of a monster. But I didn't think about that. I thought that I needed him safe... and that was what mattered."_

"Hey! Claire!"

Korina didn't know her. She was standing on a balcony of some sort, wearing a red jacket with black pants. They were good for her figure, but Korina could tell they had a different job as well. "Leon!? I'll be right there!" She descended quickly, almost running, as Korina tried to lock on the door. Of course it was locked. And of course she didn't have a key for it. "We really gotta stop meeting like this," Claire said, and from here, Korina could see they were perfectly good for riding a bike. Jayden wanted one. "And who's this?"

"Korina Pachis, and my brother, Polo." A fire started somewhere near the stairwell. The helicopter crash was starting to burn.

"Are you alright?" Leon asked, attention directed on Claire. "Police chopper... it came outta nowhere."

Korina was afraid of what it meant. Something had to take that chopper down. "Yeah, I'm fine." It probably wasn't anything small either.

Polo gestured to the door. "Any chance you have the key?" he asked, hope in his voice. Korina tightened her grip on him, well aware he was tired of this already. Not that she blamed him. All four of them probably were.

Claire looked down at it, then at him. Surprise flashed on her features, like she was just seeing how old he really was. Because he was young. Thirteen is such a weird age because people expect thirteen year olds to act like an adult but they lack experience, knowledge, and other fundamental things adults just have. But there was no level of experience and age to prepare anyone for what was happening. And he just looked... so much younger. Her voice was soft, genuine, as she answered, "No... I don't... I'm sorry. It's good to see you, to meet you. I'm Claire Redfield. How are you holding up?"

He was watching behind them, but he had enough mind to answer, "I'm alright. Korina's with me." He squeezed her hand, and Korina tried not to be too distracted by those words. By the utter faith in them. "She'll take care of me."

"Hanging in there," Leon answered. Korina didn't bother, instead keeping an eye on the dead too, and searching for anything monstrous.

"Helluva night, huh?"

"Wait, Redfield? Like Chris?" Korina asked, and Claire nodded her head. It made sense now, seeing as some of their facial structure was very similar. Noses, shapes of their mouths, even the way they carried themselves was similar. They were probably close growing up, that or their parents took the same approach to them both, and they both took it the same way. "Talk about someone I wish were here. I'd be able to rely on at least someone..."

Claire and Leon exchanged glances. "Korina, you've got us," Leon said, almost like a promise. "Same for you, Polo."

Polo didn't say anything, and he jumped when an alarm started going off inside the RPD. Korina cursed internally, watching all the dead come to life and come for the fence. It wouldn't them back forever. Even now it was giving way to them. "Claire, is the RPD safe?!" Korina demanded, throwing herself against the locked door. "Is it?!"

"The dead are in here too, but I stand a better chance than you guys right now." Honesty. Not what she wanted to hear, but far better than a lie.

"Leon, help me get him over."_ Shit._ They were coming. "Polo, listen to me. Listen to me."

Polo was shaking his head. His whole body was shaking, but his head he meant to shake. Polo begged, "I don't want to- Don't make me-"

"Listen to me!" Korina held his arms to his side. "You're not safe out here, and I can't make it through this being worried about you, alright? Go with Claire, listen to her, and find somewhere the dead ignore. A room they just don't enter. I'll come for you."

"But if you're not safe, then I can watch your back! Don't treat me like a kid, Korina! Let me help!"

"You wanna help me? Then help me by staying safe!" Korina felt her voice get rougher. "I failed you once, Polo. I should have taken that doctor's car and gone to the nearest city, but I took you home instead. I was stupid, and now look at the danger we are in. Go over there so I know you're alright."

Leon shot two of the nearest ones, and Korina knelt down with her hands cupped together. Polo's gaze fought hers still, but she saw resignation in his shoulders too. He set his foot down in her palms. She lifted him as high as she could, and shouted, "Leon!"

The rookie cop shot another one to be safe, and he helped to lift Polo the rest of the way so he could climb over. "We gotta go," Leon told her as soon as Polo landed on the ground. He began running off, but Korina simply grabbed his arm. He was annoyed by the action, but Korina had a reason. Everything she had done recently felt like it had a reason. She was beginning to miss high school somehow.

"Wait." Korina addressed Claire now. The redhead nodded, paying attention. "The dead aren't the biggest problem. There's this monster- you'll know it when you see it. It's blind, and it's attracted to noise, so when you see one, be as silent as possible. If you have anything you can throw, use that to distract it. It is dangerous- more dangerous than the dead-"

"We have to go, Korina!"

"Korina, go!" Polo shouted, his eyes glassier than normal. He didn't want her out of his sight, but she was happy he saw the need for it.

Korina reached through to touch his sleeve one more time. "I'll be back for you," she promised before lifting her bow and killing someone who had been in one of the dark corners, one Leon hadn't seen. She looked down at it, then at the duo. There wasn't enough time to throw it over. But she wanted to, very much. They could use it for the monster.

Leon tugged her away from the gate, and Claire pulled Polo back too, further into the RPD. Away from her... But he stopped long enough to say, "We're gonna make it. All of us." It was comforting in the strangest way. A promise he couldn't hold on, but one that he tried nonetheless.

_"It took time to get into the RPD for me and the cop. When we did, it was more dangerous than we could have imagined. The dead were everywhere, just like outside, only the outside was open and the halls of the RPD were narrow. They could gang up easily, trap the living, do whatever they wanted really. It made me nervous for Polo, especially when we couldn't find the other survivor anywhere for a while."_

_"Did you ever find Polo?"_

_"Yes. Though, maybe it would have been for the best if I didn't. But we're not there yet. We found another survivor first, one that you would be particularly interested in. One a lot of powerful people probably wouldn't want you to find. And, more importantly, there was another monster created from a different virus. They call it Golgotha Virus, or G-Virus. The cop was the first one I know of to face it in the way he did."_

Korina was afraid of the RPD now. It was absolutely infested, with more dead than anything else crawling all over the damn place. The two had developed a system of sorts after Leon found gear in a locker. It was a bit loose on him, but he insisted the fit was fine. Korina was inclined to agree- even loose, he still looked damn good in it. But he took point, insisted on the being the first to face anything, and Korina watched his back and the rear, making sure nothing followed them.

They needed a break. They hadn't had near enough time to rest yet. And this bag was heavy enough it was starting to slow her down. Korina looked around them. "Swing a right," she murmured, finding a boarded up window. Leon did, but there was nothing but a small hallway and a door. "Should be the dark room. They use it for developing photographs for cases."

Leon opened the door and checked for anything threatening, but there was nothing. It was a room they just ignored. Korina had noticed some rooms were almost forgotten by the dead and the monsters alike. Perhaps they were drawn to each other, she didn't know. Korina set her bag on the ground near the door, sagging from the relief of being without it. "Sorry, I need a break," she murmured, sitting down on the floor.

"I understand. I need one too," Leon said in response, placing himself against the desk and sinking to the floor himself. It was silent for a half minute, the two of them just trying to catch their breaths, have a moment that wasn't stuck on survival mode. "We should get to know each other, since we're here now. I think we'll be spending a lot of time together before this is over."

More than likely. And knowing more about him wouldn't hurt her, but it might help her. "Probably," she laughed and smoothed out her skirt. It was becoming more annoying as time went on, as were her flats. She shook them off and massaged her feet, trying hard to maintain decency in front of the rookie. "I have to know. Why Raccoon City? You seem like you could have gone anywhere."

He was young too. And while Raccoon's local university had a lot of prestige, he had to know the girls would only ever view him as a cop. Dating might be difficult, despite how good he looked. Because he was handsome, and that was a fact Korina hadn't had time to fully digest and appreciate. He chuckled and replied, "Seemed like the city needed help. It's crime rate is unusually high, and it was even higher in the last few months."

"Regretting your decision?"

"Not at all. Even though its gone to hell, I'm still helping people who need it. Probably more than anyone else out there." Leon studied Korina, and she knew what he was finding. Some frilly dressed girl with a crossbow and a huge bag full of guns and ammunition for those guns. She should unpack it and equip herself while she had the chance, but she was enjoying the time to breathe. "How old are you? You can't be much older than fifteen."

"I'm sixteen. I turn seventeen in March. Sophomore year." She saw a slight crinkle in his brow and offered, "I was held back a grade in elementary school because my math skills were absolutely horrible. They weren't sure I would pass the next year if I went on. My parents agreed."

Leon was quiet when he asked, "Where are your parents?"

Korina pushed down the emotion she didn't have the time for. "My dad was at work in the university. He had a class he was teaching, so who knows where he is now. Mom... mom's corpse was on the floor in front of the door, last time I saw her. Polo almost got bit by her... I had to-" No, she didn't have time for that. She had to be strong now more than ever, and crying was not on the list of things she could do. "She's not coming back. She's gone."

"I'm sorry." Korina shrugged and pulled the bag towards her, sitting on her knees to maintain decency, and began picking it apart. She couldn't make eye contact with him, because she knew he would let her break. And that was for a time when she was safe and out of this hellhole. "Hey, let's look around for supplies in here. Maybe they'll have pouches for your ammunition."

She nodded and picked herself up, checking the lockers. She found more ammunition that she threw Leon's way, practically forcing him to take it. There was nothing to help her carry everything. But Leon called, "Korina. What size do you wear?"

She answered his question with a shrug. Most of what she wore she made herself, or her grandmother made it for her. It was hard to find clothes she liked in the colors she preferred, and there was just some sort of pride in being able to make one's own wardrobe. The only challenge Korina never stepped up to was Homecoming dresses, opting to find one in the stores. "Why?" she asked.

He pulled out a pair of jeans, and a jacket with a decent amount of bulk. It was raining outside now, which meant it had gotten colder, too cold for her short sleeve shirt. It looked about the right size at least. Korina accepted the clothes and smiled at him. "Thanks, Leon." He nodded, and both of them looked towards the development room, but there was no door. "Uhm... I-"

"No, I'll just. Watch the door," Leon said, standing in front of the door and holding his gun up, as if to solidify the idea. Korina tried not to laugh at him, but she did genuinely appreciate the gesture from him. Korina turned her back to him and shed her shirt, quickly replacing it with the t-shirt the officer wore. She pulled the pants on underneath the skirt before shedding it, allowing it to fall to the floor with little resistance. They left shoes here as well, though not socks. Oh well. It would just have to work. "Done yet?"

"Yeah, I am." Korina looked around for something- anything to tie her hair back as she slipped off her flats and shoved her feet into the officer's shoes. The shirt was baggy, and the pants were a perfect size, but the shoes were just a half size too small. Korina decided she could suck it up. Leon held the jacket so she could slip her arms through, adjusting it so it was comfortable. It was huge too, so she cuffed the sleeves of the jacket like she saw Kelly do before.

Kelly. Korina hoped she was okay. But she doubted it.

They left the Dark Room and worked their way around the department, and Korina was surprised by how ridiculous it was to get everything to reach the underground tunnel from the museum days. She heard of them before, but she had never been down herself. Jayden used to swear they were the coolest thing in the world. Korina wasn't sure he had actually been down there.

The dead piled up on either sides of the hall, and there was always more. It seemed like they spawned from nowhere, like a stupid game.

Going down into the tunnel was easy, and Korina found herself relying more and more on Leon. He didn't seem to mind, instead taking it dutifully. Like he really didn't have much of a choice. And from what she could tell, he probably didn't have the heart to make any other choice. He wasn't a kid, but he was as soft hearted as one. He kept her sane. He kept her believing. He kept her alive.

"Help me move this," Korina requested, trying to lift a heavy shelf. She put all of her weight into it, but she could hardly move the damn thing. Leon came from behind and assisted her, but she knew he could have done it by himself with relative ease. "Thank you. You're a real help, Leon."

"You're not so bad yourself, Korina," he said with a small smile towards her. He was exhausted. And more than that, he was afraid. Korina wondered if she looked the same, if she was scanning the area in front of her obviously too. Korina couldn't blame him as she took a few steps forward, holding her trusty crossbow.

That was when he jumped down. It took Korina a moment to process he wasn't human. Majority of his body was still very much human, even with the shredded clothes and obvious bloodstains. But his arm- holy shit, his arm was definitely not human. The muscles were bulging inhumanly, and the eye- it blinked at her as if she were nothing. "Korina!" She was pushed to the side before it reached out. The mutated arm was holding a pipe of some sort, and the nonmutated arm had Leon by the throat.

"Leon!" It charged, and it threw Leon to the ground. Korina barely had any time before she shot the bolt from her crossbow, hitting the juncture before its neck and mutated shoulder. Then it pulsed, growing bigger and bigger, and the body spasmed violently. Korina pulled her handgun from its holster, but it still beat Leon into the metal catwalk, the force bending and eventually breaking the platform. "LEON!"

But he took it in stride, recovering before the G-mutated man. "Korina! Stay up there!" he ordered when he saw her nearing the edge.

It was getting up. "I'll cover you from up here!" Leon was hurting. She could tell by the hunch in his back. Korina wished she had her bag- she had placed so many painkillers in there, including the healing green herbs that only seemed to grow around Raccoon City. Korina saw the bolt she shot break in half as he rampaged. Her crossbow would do nothing to this thing.

It had been close. There were many times Leon nearly died, that he was breath from being smashed by the monster. Some areas, Korina wasn't any help at all and would call him to move so she would be. Eventually it had taken enough damage, and it seemed to... throw itself down the side of the rail and somewhere Korina wasn't sure she wanted to know. Korina didn't want to think about it. A ladder dropped, and she gaped. Where the hell- why the hell-

"Someone must be watching us," Leon commented almost blandly. He started to climb the ladder, still very much hurt, and the adrenaline was starting to fade. Korina offered her hand when he was nearly to the top, dragging him back onto the platform. He was ready to go again, but Korina pushed him back down. "We have to-"

She shook her head. "No. You're hurt, and you'll only slow us down or get yourself killed if we ignore it." There had to be something. Something that she could use. "Stay here. I'm going to look for- anything really."

"Korina-"

She began walking away, and Leon hissed in pain when he tried to stand. "I'll be fine. I won't go too far," she promised over her shoulder, but it didn't make him any less worried as he watched her disappear around a corner.

* * *

"Seems like you and this cop got to know each other," Agent Mac observes.

"In a situation like that... you have to." Agent Mac encourages her further. "We had to trust each other. Have each other's backs. Part of that included getting to know each other. He was kind. He was helpful. He felt a need to help everyone he came across. That was how he gathered me, Polo, and the other survivor at the RPD."

Agent Mac is quiet. Korina hasn't seen her take notes in a while. "I'm glad," she murmured, "that that is the type of man you ran into. He could have been much worse."

"Yes... yes he could have." Korina was lucky. She wishes that luck had continued. "But he died down there. We thought one of them was down, but it wasn't. It bit right into him." A lie, but if he did make it out, then maybe they don't have him in custody like they have her. She doesn't want to implicate him into the mess she has made for herself. All of this could have been avoided if she weren't picked up on the side of the road.

"What was his name? We can put him down as a confirmed casualty."

Shit. She needs another name. "Marvin," she says, calling the first name she thinks of. "Marvin Presley." Oh, that is awful. She wants to slap herself.

Agent Mac nods. "I see. Well, let's stop for lunch. I can order you anything."

Anything? Korina hasn't thought about eating in hours. Days even. She didn't accept anything the officers gave her. It was mostly cheap burgers anyway. "Can I... can I get anything that's not a burger?" she requests.

The agent laughs, a graceful sound. "Sure thing. I'll be getting a steak. Have any preferences?"

"None."

"Okay. I'll get it ordered and go pick it up. You rest."


	3. Raccoon City Tapes III

A/N: And here is chapter three! Not much to say about this chapter, other than that we are reaching the end of the Raccoon City arc. A little bit of foreshadowing in this one, though not a whole lot.

* * *

Agent Mac watches the child as she sleeps. She shakes in her sleep, but she's not vocal. She's silent. Silent, like she had to be in Raccoon City. Until she shoots awake, a hand over her mouth to muffle the scream. Sixteen years old, an orphan, and she feels responsible for the death of her thirteen year old brother. She ate the lunch Mac bought for her, using her FBI card because she would need to have many words with her higher ups, and this was the very least they owed this child.

Mac had been building a case after what happened to the S.T.A.R.S team in the Arklay Mountains, secretly, quietly, but it came to a near standstill when their funding was cut, the program closed, and most of them were either on house arrest or ran before they were placed on it. No one was talking. No one was available to talk. But this child is just sixteen. Sixteen years old and withholding names to keep the people she met and who protected her safe. That's something far too old for a child her age.

Her phone rings. Her boss. She steps out of the room and into the bathroom before answering, "Yes?"

_"Mac, how close are you to closing the case on the Pachis girl?"_

"She was there." There is silence on his end. A silence that suggests he knows more than she might want to believe. "You better not have been part of this, Matthews. If I can prove it, don't think for a second that I won't."

Matthews sighs. _"I wasn't part of it. But there are certain members who... are around here that were. I only found out recently, when they started discussions to nuke Raccoon City."_ Mac allows silence to reign. _"I didn't mean to put you in this position. I know how much you do for this country daily. Probably more than what nuking Raccoon City did for the safety of the nation."_

"Safety of the nation is right! The nightmares that girl has- she's lucky to break an hour of sleep! And I don't think I'm even close to the end. She has so much to tell and share... and we're at fault." Mac sighs, running her hand over her face. "This girl is never going to get past this. She's always going to be haunted by what's happened. And me making her relive it- I take any excuse to give her a break. Any at all."

_"The sooner you get it done, the sooner she can go on. The sooner she can find an after." _Mac can feel that there isn't an after, not truly. This is going to follow her, and it just might consume her. There is a moment before he continues, _"Agent, she's going to have to be taken to... a special place. They're going to question her again. They already have two survivors in holding, a Leon Kennedy and a Sherry Birkin. Ask her about them."_

"Of course." It pisses her off, but some things have to be done. The big feds are going to step in, and she's not at all surprised considering this child expects to be killed at any given moment. Whatever else she saw in Raccoon City, it has given her reason to believe death is coming for her in the form of their government. Mac stills when she hears it: the muffled scream. "I have to go."

Indeed, the girl is awake, her knees folded into her chest and her arms hugging them close. She's never looked like such a child. She doesn't seem sixteen at all, not by the standards Mac has. But then again, Mac has never been good with children, has been known to treat them too much like adults and expect more than they could possibly give. This child has been taking it, like in a way she has grown up considerably. She more than likely has.

Her gaze flicks up. Dark eyes that are still on edge, still wary, but so very much afraid. Her hair is greasy as she still hasn't taken a shower, long, dark, but undoubtedly needing a cut to be rid what looks like burnt ends. Her eye bags are incredibly dark compared to the rest of her olive skin. One look at her, and almost anyone can tell where her family is from. "Are you... ready for more?"

"Anytime," Mac answers, taking out her pad again even though she hasn't taken notes in a while. Mac needs to know the extent of what she knows before she can have any of this on official paper, and if she has to make up a few details, well... There's nothing wrong with it in her fine opinion. "We left off on you and Marvin encountering the G-Virus and you looking for painkillers."

* * *

_"Right. Well, after the fight with the G, I looked for anything to help Marvin feel better. I didn't want to run the risk of him getting hurt more or, worse yet, dying. All of my items were with Polo and the other survivor. I had ammunition, but that wouldn't do anything for Marvin's back."_

_"Did you find anything?"_

_"Yes and no. I found a red herb, which is virtually useless on its own."_

A red herb was better than nothing. Korina wished she could find a green herb, amplify the abilities of the green herb, but she would have to keep searching, and she'd been apart from Leon long enough. By the time she returned to him, he had forced himself into an upright position, gun at his side. "I didn't find anything, but let me know if you see a green herb. It'll be a big help," she said to him, showing the red plant she had stuffed into one of the jacket pockets.

Leon took one of the leaves in between his fingers. "I think I have one." He pulled out what was indeed a green herb, and Korina sighed in relief.

"If you give me a minute, I can grind these up into a compound you can use." When ground up they produced a dough quality that allowed a person to eat them in relative comfort, and it produced a chemical in the body that sped up the healing process. No one knew how it came to be, but it was a closely guarded secret in and around Raccoon City. Most people in Raccoon thought they weren't real. "It'll ease your pain and any damage done will probably be healed right up," she told him.

He tried to play it off as unnecessary, but a slight movement made him hiss from the pain. He slumped back down. "Okay, okay," Korina hummed, tearing the leaves apart first. "These are big plants, so I can split them in two and save the second for later. In case of emergency or whatever."

"You sure you know what you're doing?" he grunted.

Korina nodded. "Mom liked to keep these around the house. They're so rare and so hard to grow, so she was proud that she could grow so much. Every year she would just go through and make a shit ton of healing items... She'd have me and Polo help, just in case we ever needed to know... Never imagined I'd use it like this." There isn't much to grind it up with. Korina takes the butt of her gun and cleans it off as best as she can before using it. "Dad was fascinated by them, which was why we started growing them in the first place. Shame we could never get it FDA approved."

"Oh, so you're just going to give me an experimental drug?" The tone of joking was obvious, and Korina chuckled. It was started to become more dough like. Leon scrunched his nose up at the object, probably doubting its abilities. "Does it taste good at least?"

"Nope. It's bitter as all get out." It didn't take much longer before it was ready. "If I had water, I would suggest drinking it first. But seeing as I don't, you'll get to suffer the aftertaste." Korina split it in half and used a bit of paper she found near the red herb to store it for later. Leon stared at it with distrust, and Korina took a bit off to stick in her mouth. She grimaced at the bitterness that flooded her mouth before offering it to him again.

Leon took it and murmured, "Bottoms up." His face contorted when he stuffed it into his mouth. He gagged a bit, and Korina tried not to laugh. He suffered over the aftertaste- which filled one's mouth for hours at a time- while it worked over the next few minutes. Finally he swallowed air and said, "Holy shit that was disgusting. How the hell do you eat that?"

"Only when I'm in severe pain." Korina helped him to stand, and even he seemed surprised at how little pain he felt. "Now it won't do much for a broken bone or any internal wounds other than pain maintenance, but it will heal most external wounds. It's a miracle thing, but FDA never approved it. Something about possible addictive qualities."

Leon stretched his back, and she heard a few pops. "Well, you're definitely not wrong. I feel damn near good as new." He paused and looked to her, guilt in his eyes that she couldn't understand. "I'm sorry. That was almost you back there."

Korina shrugged. "But it wasn't. And you should be sorry for scaring the hell out of me. Not saving my life."

Just then, the two heard a crackle. "He-hello?" a voice crinkled out. It was young, afraid, and just barely heard. "Are you two okay?"

Korina looked around for it, and she found it nestled between two garbage bags filled to the brim and heavy. She looked to Leon, and he shrugged. "Hi. We're doing fine. Who is this?"

"Sherry. Sherry Birkin." There was a pause before she asked, "Have you guys seen Claire? We got separated..."

"We haven't." Claire. If she knew Claire, then Sherry had to know- "Is Polo with you, sweetheart?"

"Uh huh."

Another crackle, and Korina sucked in a breath to keep from sobbing. "Rina?"

"Where are you?"

"We're-" It broke off into crackles she couldn't understand. She couldn't hear them. Korina wanted to break the damn thing, but she needed it desperately at the same time.

"You're breaking up, but we're coming, okay? Leon and Korina are coming, so you two just hang tight."

_"So, since he was fine, we started to head for the parking garage, where it would come out at. Marvin insisted on taking the lead again, so I stayed in the back."_

_"The herbs really work that well?"_

_"It takes about two minutes for them to start taking effect. Like I said. Miracle plant. No one can explain it, not even geneticists and biochemists. Maybe they were put there for just that reason. For the dead to come back."_

_"Will it heal a bite?"_

_"Heal the bite? Yes. Cure them of the virus? No. The doctors tried that at the hospital, and there were tests done before the virus was released. In fact, it was engineered so that the herbs would do nothing against the virus."_

_"Why?"_

_"To create better weapons."_

_"What happened next?"_

_"Well. We ran into some dogs. And that survivor I mentioned."_

Korina huffed, "Leon, I can climb up a damn ladder by myself."

"I'm taking point," he insisted. Both had their hands on the same bar. He straightened up to stand the full five inches he had on her. He wanted the authority, wanted to keep making up for something that wasn't his fault. It was frustrating the ever living hell out of Korina. "And I'm older, a cop, and more trained than you are."

Korina's face turned red as she shouted, "I've been handling myself!"

She glared at him, irritated he was treating her like a child. Had been ever since running into that thing. He pushed her to the side, and Korina had no choice but to take it. He was insistent, he was so sure, and she just... had to accept it. Nonetheless, she ensured her weapon was ready as he reached the top and she climbed up after him. It took a moment for him to open it, but he did and a soft light filled the small area. He helped Korina up, setting the flashlight down for a few moments.

Korina kept her eyes peeled. It was too quiet now, grating against her nerves even though she should have been thankful for it. Korina approached the opening of the parking garage with him and saw the one thing she had forgotten about: the lock needed a keycard. "Damn," Leon muttered, "need a keycard."

"I don't know where to find one-" Korina tensed up at the snarling behind them, even as Leon whipped around. "Dogs." Two of them, to be exact, and Korina lifted her gun up just in time for them to charge.

One went for Leon, and she didn't see if its teeth made contact. Korina had never been afraid of dogs- she loved them, actually, and was always admonished by Officer Douglas for being so friendly to the K9 unit dogs- but these dogs made her terrified. Granted, these actually wanted her dead. The snarled in her face as she pushed with both arms to keep it off, dropping her gun in the process. Somewhere far away, she heard Leon call her name.

It snapped at her face, and Korina turned away to keep it away. She could tell his name from his scratched collar, and tears pricked at her eyes. This was the one she helped to name and to train. Booze. She hadn't seriously thought they would go with it, but they did. His name was supposed to be something else, but he took better to Booze anyway. He took better to everything when Korina was involved. And now- "Booze, no! Booze!" He wasn't listening. He was long gone.

She tried reaching back for her gun, but if she let off even a little, Booze would lunge for her throat. "Leon! Leon!"

"Hang on, Korina!" He was struggling with his own dog. And if she let Booze get her, he would have two dogs on him. He wouldn't make it. She had to be strong for Leon this time.

A shot rang out. "Hey!" Another shot, and Booze fell limp on top of her. Korina scrambled away, shaking as she put her back against the wall. Booze- Booze attacked her, he attacked her, and another one attacked Leon, and fuck-

_"Shh. It's alright. You're not there anymore."_

_"Booze was my dog, more or less. Seeing him like that was awful, but I couldn't quite grasp it fully. I still can't. He was my dog."_

Leon asked, loud enough for her to hear, "Who is that?"

"Stay sharp." His dog began standing again, and Booze let out a most pitiful whimper. Korina grasped her knife in her hand. Leon shot the dog, and his gun trained on a woman as she approached, wearing a large coat and, for whatever awful reason, sunglasses inside. Korina shushed Booze as she slid the knife into his skull, and the dog was at rest. Korina returned to her position, staring up at the woman. "Lower it," she ordered Leon. "FBI."

Korina didn't care about the badge. She cared about Booze. It was stupid, she knew, but it didn't change anything. She loved Booze. She would come up just to see him, bribing one officer or another to let her in. She even taught him tricks in Greek. "Booze," she murmured, pulling the dog into her lap. Some of his face had rotted away. And his fun was sticking to her hands, revealing bald spots. "No, no, not my Booze."

"Thank you. For your help," Leon said to her before paying attention to Korina. She knew how she looked, holding that dog so close. But she had loved him. Booze was the first dog she trained, and her dad hated dogs so they never had one at home. In a way, Booze was her dog. Leon, whether he knew that or could just tell, was being gentle and understanding. "Hey... you alright?"

No. She wasn't. "We- we gotta find Polo. I have to get him back, and we have to get the hell out of here!" But how could she just leave Booze? They'd eat him... "I... I trained this dog. Obviously not for K9 unit duties, but... I would bribe officers all the time to let me into the kennel. He came to us as a pup, and I gave him his name. I taught him how to play dead, fetch stuff for me, and so many other things. He was so smart, and he-"

Arms wrapped around her. Korina stiffened. Only then did she know she was crying. "It's gonna be okay. He's in a better place now." Her throat clogged up. Hot tears raced down her cheeks as she bit her lip to keep silent. "We'll find Polo, and then we'll rest before getting you out of here. Okay?"

The woman, not at all harsh or demeaning or pitiful, said, "I'm surprised you made it this far."

And in an instant, something snapped. Korina's world was absolutely falling apart. The roads where she had walked down her entire life, with her parents, with her brother, with her small number of friends, were filled with the dead coming back to eat the living. She recognized some of them. She ran into so many people she hadn't even known she knew, people she hadn't even thought of for a long time. Add to it she had to practically kill her mother, her father was never going to come home, she left her grandmother in an infested hospital, and her brother was somewhere without her- oh. Something snapped.

"And I'm surprised the FBI's here," Korina shot back, rubbing at her cheeks. This woman, now that she paid attention, was pissing her off. Her mind was racing. Why was there an agent there in the first place, why- She gave one last kiss to the dog's head before gently setting him back down. But it greatly contrasted the anger she felt. "What the hell are you doing here, huh? And now? Now, when the city's gone! Where were the evacs, hunh?! Where was the fucking government to protect us from this shit?! To help at least some of us get the fuck out of here before there was a city of one hundred thousand infected?!"

"Don't be so dramatic." Korina could have shot her with a bullet right then and there-

"She has a point," Leon said, backing Korina up.

The agent said, "Sorry. That information's classified."

"Where are you going?" Leon asked next.

"Do yourself a favor," she said, turning to the two, "and stop asking questions and get the hell out of here."

Korina stared down at the dog and tried to calm her heart.

_"FBI? You're sure?"_

_"Yes, I am. She said she was FBI and then didn't answer any more questions. She just tried walking away from us, like we weren't going to follow. Like we were actually going to leave. We didn't know where to go."_

_"Interesting... So where did you go?"_

_"Back into RPD. We had a way out now, which was good, and access to other parts of the facility. A lot of doors had been locked and we didn't always have the key. But we came back to worse._ _Inside there was this... thing. It was huge, bulky, and the dead were of little consequence to it despite its human appearance. The first time we saw it, it knocked out a camera. The first time we saw it face to face... There was no bullet that could stop that thing. Nothing the public has access to anyway."_

_"What did you try?"_

_"Shotgun shells. 9 millimeter bullets. The damn crossbow. Nothing pierced its skin. And the strength it had was- was unprecedented... It terrified me, Agent. And it hunted relentlessly."_

_"I see."_

Leon almost tried to leave Korina in the garage, but she reminded him the kennel was somewhere near by, making it one of the most dangerous locations to be. So she stayed with Leon, and she forced herself to stop thinking about the past. She had to find her brother. Had to get the hell out of there. The two ended up by the cells, looking for a keycard that might be there.

And there was one, right around the neck of reporter Ben Bertolucci. He was around the county for plenty of stories, sometimes even in Raccoon City itself. It was no surprise to see him in the city, but it was a surprise to see him alive. "I don't believe it. Living humans," was his way of greeting them both, cigarette in hand. Korina almost asked for one herself. "And you... you're Korina Pachis."

"I-I am. You remember me?" He had asked her a few questions when he visited the unit a day or two before she had to leave.

He chuckled, as if she had said something funny or childish. "You and your grandmother. Wicked tongue that one, didn't like I spoke to you or your brother Apollo at all. Er, Polo, right?" Korina nodded, despite her heart panging at the mention of her grandmother. Her grandmother, who was probably long dead by then. "How is the squirt?"

"I had to send him ahead for his own safety. Have you seen him?" He shook his head, and Korina breathed in deeply. "Of course not. Thank you."

Leon looked between the two and asked Ben, "You been here long?"

"Long enough!" Ben took a drag. Korina really wanted to ask for him. Jayden had let her smoke one of his once, after a near accident that set her nerves on fire. "We the last ones alive yet?"

"There's still a few of us," Leon assured him.

Ben seemed happy about it. "That's good news, I guess. Unless Irons sent you."

Korina's brow furrowed. "Irons?"

"The chief?" Leon asked for confirmation.

The rumors. His constant denial. The quick downfall of the RPD. The half ass defenses- "What did you find?" Korina asked. "You had to have found something. You don't break the law, and when you do, you're very careful. On top of that, the RPD fell too easily, too quickly. So what did you find? What has he done?"

Ben's face took on something kin to haunted. "If it weren't you, Korina, I wouldn't bother answering those questions. Mostly because you, sweetheart, don't strike me as someone who does anything without a purpose. And you don't want to watch the world burn." He held up a flash drive. "Get me out of here, and you can have this."

"I can't do that without the chief's permission," Leon interjected before Korina could ask. "Is he still around?"

"Who cares?" Ben truly didn't. Korina wasn't sure she wanted to. "Hopefully he's someone's dinner by now."

"What do you mean by that?"

Korina swallowed. "Ben... how bad is it?"

"Don't check the orphanage," he replied, and Korina felt her heart seize. "He's connected to all of it- and I was going to blow the whistle on his dirty ass before he locked me in here." There was a sound at the end of the hall, and all of Korina's instincts told her to run. She palmed her gun. "Hey! I'll make you a deal. Unlock this door, and you can have this- there's not another way out of the parking garage."

He was right. There wasn't. "Leon, unlock the damn door."

"I can't."

"Leon, something's not right. Open the door!"

"I can't, Korina!"

"Leon, right?" Ben asked, desperation lacing his voice. "Look, we're both prisoners in this station. So either we play nice and help each other out- Shit. It's coming."

Korina could feel it too. Something was so wrong, so very wrong, and that was all she could sense. Leon placed her behind him, close to the wall, watching down the hall. "What- what's coming?"

Ben was afraid. Too afraid, as he backed closer and closer to the wall. "Come on, don't be an asshole! You need this! Just get me the fuck out of here!"

The wall behind him exploded, and gloved fist was very much visible. Korina covered her mouth before she let out a scream, muffling it somewhat. The hand grabbed Ben by his face and lifted him off the ground. He struggled against it, clawed at it, and Leon drew his gun. The wall tore apart like it was nothing as the thing moved Ben, lifting him higher and higher until-

**Squelch!**

_"I thought it was the worst thing I would ever hear. The loss of life at something so much stronger than any human could achieve naturally. It was like an ant crushed by a boot. Ben didn't have a chance."_

Korina screamed again. Ben's blood and brain matter exploded from his head, the hand having crushed it like a grape. Whatever it was retreated, and Korina could only stare at Ben. His head was still intact- mostly. It was shaped oddly, some parts having caved in and his eyeball threatened to pop out. His mouth was open in a forever scream. It burned itself into her mind, and Korina decided that of everything she wished she hadn't seen, this was probably the one she wished she hadn't seen the most. Leon pulled Korina to him, turning her away from Ben's corpse and directly to him. "Korina, don't look."

But she was frazzled. All that she had seen was toppling over, spilling out of the drawer she placed it in. Everything was shaking, and it was all her fault, all hers- "Why didn't I just open it? I knew something was wrong-"

"No, I should have- I should have listened." A sob broke free, just before they heard another sound down the hall. She turned, gun raised, eyes glassy, barely able to see. Ignored Ben's body.

The woman from before. "It's just me, so you can put that away." Korina didn't. "Hm. At least you have some fight in you."

"Don't fucking move." She stopped. "That's twice. Twice you've appeared in the nick of time. Convenient, don't you think? Before, with the dogs. Now, with whatever the fuck just killed Ben. How am I supposed to believe you're not connected to all of this somehow?"

Leon placed a hand on her arm, but she pushed him off. "Ah. I see how you made it this far now. Any lesser woman I'd dare to shoot me, but you would be all too willing to take on that challenge. You've survived this far, but you haven't survived solely because of him. You can carry your own weight. But I'm not your enemy. Ben would attest to that if he were still alive."

"Or he would say you are my enemy." They could never know. Fuck, she was so scared.

"Ben was an informant for my investigation. He had useful information." She sounded more inconvenienced than anything else, but her body language suggested she wasn't lying about that at least.

Korina let her arms fall. The woman cursed, and she began walking away. Korina would have let her without another word of complaint. Leon was not the same. He brushed past Korina and grabbed her arm, so that she had the audacity to give him an offended expression. "Hey, you can't keep walking away from me! I don't even know your name. I'm Leon Kennedy. This is Korina Pachis."

But she wasn't giving in. "Find a way out, Leon. Before it's too late. Then we'll talk." Korina watched her walk away, jaw set. "Name's Ada."

Leon turned on her. "You can't just go around doing that, Korina."

"Bullshit I can't." Korina turned on her heel. "We need to find Claire and Polo. Now. I have to get him out of here, and she's right. You should do the same."

_"Ada? You're sure?"_

_"Yes. Marvin found her again before we lost contact. We got the key, went inside, grabbed the keycard, and Marvin found an audio recording device. I didn't listen to it, too exhausted mentally to care. It was... an ordeal, finding the key to the cage. Every move we made, we had the dead to fear, the monsters, the dogs, and... we began calling him Mr. X."_

_"Mr. X?"_

_"I... can't tell you more than that."_

_"I understand. Can you describe him?"_

_"Yes. He was tall, agent. Tall enough to reach the ceiling of the hall. And wide. He was a giant presence, and he walked around so heavily you could hear almost anywhere in the station. He kept you looking over your shoulder, and God forbid you discharge your weapon. He hunted you down. His strength was immeasurable."_

_"He sounds horrifying."_

_"He was... But there was a moment he didn't scare me."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because he had Leon's throat in his hands."_

They had gotten the key off of Ben's body and made it all the way back to the parking garage. They hadn't heard him in a while and assumed he was gone for the time being. Hopefully forever, but they couldn't jinx it. Leon finally let Korina take point, and she stepped in front with her crossbow at the ready. She had taken out the dead efficiently, quietly, and that made it safe for them to continue on. The lickers were becoming less and less of a problem as he fired less and less bullets. However, running out of bolts was... well, it was more likely to happen.

When the wall exploded beside her, she fell to the ground. Only one thing could do that. She rolled onto her back when she heard a choking noise, and red filled her vision. He had Leon in the air, hand around his throat. Threatening to squash it. Korina took her gun and fired until it was empty. It wasn't the last of her 9 millimeter bullets, but she would need a minute to reload. A minute she didn't have as it let Leon go and turned its gaze to her.

The fear set in and took hold. Korina didn't back down. If he killed her, then so be it. His hand was a foot away from her when lights turned on. Headlights from the SWAT van to be exact. Leon was sucking in air as greedily as he could. "Korina-" He coughed, and the van sped forward. Korina threw herself back again, and the van narrowly missed her, but it hit Mr. X head on.

Ada exited the van. "This is getting old." Leon stood on his own two feet again, and the agent approached Korina. Whatever Ada saw in her, it made her respect Korina. Korina found she wasn't going to complain much about it. "I see you two managed to unlock the cell. I grabbed this off of his body." The flash drive. She damn near forgot all about it. Korina reached for it, and Ada took it back. She ensured the girl was listening with direct eye contact. "Get out of the city. Get this in the right hands."

"I will." Korina's promise was noted, and Ada handed her the drive.

"I saw footage of Irons dragging two kids. One of them looked like Apollo." Her brother? "He should be in the orphanage."

Then she whirled on Leon, eyes narrowed, and much less impressed with him for some reason. Korina didn't care to analyze it. "Saving your ass? That's twice. It's getting old."

"I didn't realize you were keeping score," Leon tried jokingly.

"This isn't a game-" The van was definitely moving. Korina pocketed the drive. "Nothing dies down here!" The van exploded, and Korina had to admit, for one moment, she did like her style. "I assume you have the keycard."

The orphanage wasn't far. But Ben told her not to go there. Chief Irons was involved with it... which meant there was probably some form of power there. She could read for herself what was on this drive, save her brother, get them both out of the city, and stop this from happening ever again. Leon and Ada discussed a bit away from her, but she wasn't paying attention. Reality was trying to hit her again, and she didn't have time for it. But she heard something about Umbrella and underground labs- nothing she wanted to make sense of.

Before Leon unlocked the gate, she said, "I guess this is where we part."

"What?" Leon looked more confused than he should have been.

"The orphanage is where I'm going. Sounds like you're heading in the opposite direction." Korina took the bit of herb from her pocket and placed it in his palm. "I'm done here, with this city. There's nothing left. Polo and I have to get out of here, and you have to finish what you started. I'll get this out, tell everyone about it, and eventually... you'll get some help."

Leon wouldn't take it. He kept one hand over hers. "I can't let you-"

"Leon, I survived before you got here. I'll survive after. And this is the least dangerous part!"

"You're just a kid-"

"Not anymore." Korina tried tugging her hand away, and he let her go. "I saved your life. You saved my life. I have faith you'll get out of here, Leon, no matter how far deep you go. Have faith in me now."

He was conflicted, overly so. Korina smiled at him. "The nightmare's over for me, Leon. It's time for you to let me go too." She took the keycard and slid it in. "Do us all a favor, Leon, and get out of this alive."

She ducked beneath the opening before it finished and took off in a sprint. The orphanage wasn't far, and she didn't need to stay out in the open for too long. It was more dangerous if she did.

* * *

"I made it to the orphanage just in time." Korina blows out a breath at the memory of it. The dogs, the dead, the fucking licker. "Marvin, the FBI agent, both of them died there. Marvin was bit and eventually succumbed to the virus. The agent was killed by one of the lickers. The other survivor saw me running after her and kept the door open long enough for us both to make it. Then she closed it and locked the door. I'd been to the orphanage before, and it didn't look any different. But there was a feeling to it. Something awful happened there."

Mac nods her head, listening along without writing still. "Was your brother there?"

"Yes. We entered, and she told me she had a deal with Irons. He wanted some sort of pendant. A necklace that belonged to a little girl. But when we got there... something had happened. Polo was still upstairs, alive somehow, and it had taken effort for us to get to him, and Irons died. Something burst from his chest like out of a damn movie. We found Irons' office and a ladder that led down to the sewers. The other survivor went down there to chase the kid, and Polo and I found where Irons had mapped out all the defenses and blocked streets."

"So you stayed and plotted your way out."

"Yeah." Korina took another deep, shaky breath. "But I understood what Ben meant. The orphanage... fuck. Those poor kids."


	4. Raccoon City Tapes IV

A/N: Hello all, I am late. Whoops. I typically like to write several chapters ahead and as I finish one, I update, so that way if I get behind, there are already several chapters lined up. However, I didn't get around to editing this until now due to the fact I've had tests this week (and I have one tomorrow, yayayayayay). So enjoy my procrastination! And don't forget to leave a review, loves

* * *

"What do you mean?" Mac asks, worry in her voice.

"The orphanage encouraged the kids to keep diaries. Something about helping their educational value or something so nobody really looked into it. A couple months back- I don't entirely remember when, they quarantined the kids all of a sudden. No one thought much of it, figured it was like an early or late flu or something since kids get sick fairly often," Korina responds, her voice shaking. "But that wasn't it. It wasn't just... fuck. It was so much worse than I could have thought."

Mac sits down next to her. "What did they do, Ms. Pachis?"

The words are rushed out, as if she has to get them out or she never will. "Human experimentation." Mac stops breathing. "They would... tell the kids they were getting adopted. Yeah, sure. Adopted. Adopted by science in the name of war. Some of the kids would get bitter about their friends never writing back. One returned to the orphanage, but they explained away his condition. It was so sick. I felt sick to my stomach watching one of those videos. Nearly threw up. And Irons was just... offering them up, like cows for steak.

Not something for Mac to discuss with her. That's too... deep. Too raw and fresh. To an extent, too dark. The girl has come to terms with almost everything, even the things that were initially making her crack. She hasn't had a problem sharing until now. Korina swallows. "I can't- I can't-"

"I understand." At least she isn't forcing her to talk about it. _Thank God._ "Korina, what else did you find on the flash drive?"

"General information about employees, about deals with the military, about funding and where it came from, and then more experimentation, how the Tyrants were made, and the lickers. And that wasn't even some of the worst of what they did. They would kidnap people and use them. Like Lisa Trevor. She was fourteen when they invited her and her mother to the mansion, and she was kidnapped and experimented on. They killed her mother in an escape attempt, and they sent someone in dressed as her mother to fool Lisa. Lisa carved her face off to give it back to her mother. Through various experiments on her, she is where they found the G-virus. The government actually suspended research on the G-virus because of its dangers, but no one enforced it. Doctor William Birkin continued his research.

"But to get all of that I had to go through... Emails. Phone recordings. Official memos. A lot of tie ins that suggest and outright say people who knew what was going on and should have stopped it. A few even corroborated the president." Mac's brows raise, her dark skin paling a shade. "It's bad. All of this is so fucked up and bad. I'm not going to live. I should stop talking to you, so you won't be implicated-"

Mac places her fingers to her lips, and Korina silences immediately. "Why do you think I stopped taking notes? Because when you finish telling me everything, we're going to need to have as little evidence as possible of what you know. And no one can know the truth."

Korina shakes her head. "They can't get away with it." Of everything that has come out of this, they can not get away with it. That's the blood of one hundred thousand people- just those they know of, not including visitors, tourists, anyone trying a search and rescue- on their hands. "They can't get away with it. We can't let them get away with it!"

"How do you intend to prove it? These people you are talking about have far too many connections for some girl, a child, to come up and accuse them of helping cause the single greatest tragedy of the decade, maybe of the century if we're only counting on American soil. You said yourself you don't have it." Mac eyes her backpack. "Unless you have it hidden away."

"No. It's... it was back in Raccoon City." Korina dropped it because it was unusable anyway. She should have made a backup flash drive when she had the chance. "I'll get to what happened to it. Eventually."

Mac nods her head, and Korina starts again.

* * *

_"I was... losing myself out there. You weren't from Raccoon. So when you see the pictures someone managed to take, all you'll see is destruction. That wasn't what it was to me. It was memories, losing their legitimacy. It was people who were dead and no one left to mourn them. It was more than just a loss of life. It was a loss of... of community. The people I knew, that I saw, that I didn't think about, I was seeing them again, only they were dead. Places where I spent hours looking for the prefect top or the perfect fitting dress were... gone. Burning. Eaten alive. All of Raccoon was eaten alive, and I could feel it from the inside. I had to stop. Then the girl on the radio, I heard from her again. She was hurt, bad, and she just wanted someone to stay on the radio with her. But that meant I had to know. I had to know my brother was okay."_

"Hey," Korina said to her brother, waking him up as gently as she could. He wasn't feeling well since Irons hit him on the head with something, and Korina was taking pity on the poor child. Perhaps he wouldn't remember any of it, if he was lucky. And hopefully it wouldn't do anything permanent to him. Hopefully he hadn't heard her last night either. "Polo, it's time to wake up. C'mon."

His eyes blinked open, blue where hers were brown. His eyes were always such an enigma to her, even when she was little. They were in such a strange state where blue met grey, but they were so very bright. Even now, bloodshot and exhausted as he was, the color of his eyes stood against the rest of his face. He looked like a frog elf when they were young, but he was finally, finally beginning to grow into them. "Rina?" he murmured.

Korina smiled at him. "It's time to get up. We'll need to go soon," she told him, and Polo began sitting up. His head still hurt, and she almost wished she hadn't given Leon her last bit of herb. There wasn't any here, not any useful anyway. He groaned, hand against the side of his head where a large goose egg was. She kissed it as gently as she could and looked outside again. "They're clearing out somewhat. We'll be able to get by quickly and quietly. Our route shouldn't be blocked, but I already have others planned. And we're taking the map with us."

"Can you talk quieter?" Polo asked and winced at his own volume.

"It won't be quiet out there." Korina knelt in front of him. "But we might have a bit of time before we absolutely have to leave. Are you okay?"

Polo struggled to answer. "I'm... okay, I think. There's so much going on out there. So much is gone," he whispered, stubbornly avoiding the windows. "And I read this kid's notebook. It's kinda like a diary. Korina, I think-"

"I know." She didn't want to hear him say it. "I know what they did here. It's not okay, but we're safe. We're almost through."

He was quiet, struggling still. "Sherry... is she alright?"

Leave it to him to make a friend in all this shit. And leave it to Korina to not be a hundred per cent sure. She hadn't heard from Sherry in a while. "I don't know, Polo. I hope so. Claire's going after her, so she'll take care of her. Right now, you are my priority."

"I think it infected her. A monster with a really bad arm. It had an eye." G. Korina didn't know why she was surprised it was still kicking up trouble. Sherry wouldn't tell her what happened, just that something had. "Korina, will Raccoon City ever be the same again?"

"If any of these buildings are left standing, I'll be surprised." Polo looked close to crying. His friends were probably dead too. She held her brother to her, soaking in that he was still warm and alive. She could only tell him to many lies, and he would hear worse as soon as this was done. She didn't know how they planned on cleaning the city, but she knew they couldn't damn well leave it.

Which meant they didn't have much time. Korina allowed her a brother a few minutes, feeling him clutch her shirt and draw strength from a well that was drying up so very quickly. "Did you use the gun?" she asked, knowing it was time to leave.

"Four. I had to save Claire," he answered. Korina smiled at him, though it did make her a tad nervous. She kissed his forehead and stood again, gathering everything she had to get. Her ammunition was getting low, though that was partially because she shared with Leon at some point during their time together. He needed it more than she did, at least that was her thought at the time.

_"He used one of his bullets. I didn't want him to use them at all. It meant he was one bullet safer and one bullet away from death. Even if he only used it to help the other survivor. It made my heart clench, so I took one of mine out and put it in his. He didn't know. And when we left, it didn't take long for everything to go to hell. The route was clear, really, and the number of the dead were limited. We didn't see a single licker until... we reached an alley."_

They were at the end of the alley, almost like they were waiting. There were a few on their tails, chasing them, and she didn't have the time to shimmy her way around these lickers. She was out of bolts. And they were attracted to the sound of their running. Korina stuffed the drive into a pocket in her bag on Polo's back. "Polo, I'm going to separate them, and you have to run ahead! Okay! Go!"

Korina came to a stop and fired the shotgun she carried. The lickers screamed in pain and hissed in displeasure but it kept their attention on her and not on her brother. He ran by with ease, and they lunged for her. Korina couldn't even remember how she got out, only that she did by dumb luck and a well timed collapse of a fire escape that separated the two groups, separated the living from the dead. They hissed in displeasure, but she was too close now to worry about them coming after her again. Korina turned and ran for her brother.

She called for him, so he would know to slow down and wait for her. "Polo! Polo! Po...lo..." His head was in the grip of another Mr. X- or maybe the same one, she isn't sure. As she knows it her heart slowed, time stopped, and all of her focus zoned in on her little brother as his cries are muffled.

_"Hearing Ben's head had been bad enough. Squished like a grape. But watching it happen to my brother-"_

Because that is what happened.

It held her brother's head.

And it clenched.

_**SQUELCH!**_

And his brain went everywhere.

And Korina screamed.

_"I don't- I don't know what happened after that. It looked at me, and it walked away. Like I were an ant. Like by killing my brother I was somehow... completely unimportant. It should have tried to kill me. It should have succeeded. I wouldn't have put up any form of fight. I wouldn't have even tried to run. I would have stood there and let it kill me. The only thing I may have tried... was to die next to my brother."_

_"Maybe it saw you didn't want to live."_

_"So why couldn't it finish the job? Why did it kill him and not me?"_

Korina sat next to her brother. His head was distorted too, but it was easier to ignore than Ben's. His eyes were wide and staring up. His gun was a few yards away like he had thrown it, and there were four casings on the ground. He tried to fight. He tried to live. Nothing came near her. Nothing was in the area at all. It was like the dead just ignored the whole space. And she spent the rest of the afternoon there. Well into the night. When she saw the drive again, and that it had been smashed beyond use. It had been crushed like her brother's head. There was nothing left. So she mourned.

Mourned her brother.

Mourned her parents.

Mourned her friends.

Mourned her city.

To an extent, mourned herself.

_"Night fell, and... it occurred to me that my brother needed to be buried. I dropped all my ammunition, though not my weapons. If I died, I died. Left them there in the spot he died and continued down the route. Still nothing neared me. I found a shovel in a trashcan- it was shitty, but it got the job done. I buried my brother outside the city. In an area dad used for hunting. I don't know if it survived the blast... I buried him and I started walking. They picked me up on the side of the road, brought you in, and here we are."_

* * *

Korina is crying as she finishes. Raccoon City, her life, her family, all gone. And she's finally told someone how it happened. Because it did happen. Up until now it was all a bad dream, but now she's said it, now it's reality. Mac reaches over and pats her shoulder gently. "I'm sorry for your loss," she says, genuinely meaning it. Her voice is scratchy, as if she wants to cry too. "But we have to make sure you truly survive this. Do you remember the names you saw?"

"I- no. If I saw them again, I'd know. A senator from Louisiana. Two Representatives from Maine. Higher ups in the secret service. But there was one name I saw far too often. He wasn't involved, but they wanted to involve him. Something about a secret society." It's the only one she can remember. She can't for the life of her understand why she remembers it so well. "Derek Simmons."

Mac's breath hitches. "Shit. And all the proof is gone." Mac is quiet before sighing heavily. "It gives me somewhere to start. If it was in one place, it has to be in another. But for now, you need to forget all of that. Forget everything to do with that flash drive, only say that it was destroyed. I'll take care of everything else." Mac sends a message to someone else, and Korina flinches when the agent turns again.

Sadness is evident. "There are... special people who want to speak to you. They won't go into detail as I did, but they'll want to know certain elements, to make sure they match with the other two they've detained. Leon Kennedy and Sherry Birkin."

Korina nearly sobs with relief, but she has to remember her lie. "No, I don't know them." She doesn't need them to put together that Korina worked with Leon, or that Sherry Birkin is, more than likely, the daughter of William and Annette Birkin. There's no way she knows enough anyhow.

"And Korina?"

"Hm?"

"If you can... forget everything you saw in that awful place."

There's a knock on the door, and Mac answers it. The group that walks in is armed, as if she's going to break out into violence and kill them all. Korina is silent as they take her into federal custody, feeling less like a child than she ever had before. They take her backpack too, the only thing she has left of her life, and Agent Mac tries not to cry until she knows they're all long gone.

* * *

It takes three days before they let Korina go. All of her information matches what they gathered from other survivors, and she can tell they're unnerved by her. Unlike Agent Mac, these guys wanted to stay separated from it. They wanted her to stay separated too, but that is... quite impossible. The head agent- who never introduced himself, Korina notes- enters and unlocks her from the table. He's been the most unfeeling. He's been the one who pushes the most. "There's people waiting for you," he says.

Korina stands and follows him through the hallways. They're a maze, easy for her to get lost in, and she has before. She went to the bathroom and exited to find none of her guards outside. So she tried to go back and got all turned around. But he knows his way well enough that he leads her to the exit door, where someone sits behind a desk with a computer and more than a few boxes behind her. All of them hold personal belongings of other people.

"Name?" she requests, chewing gum.

"Korina Pachis." The chewing stops, and she stands up and grabs her box without much looking. Korina can tell someone went through it. It's not neatly placed like it had been before. Polo hadn't tried to mess it up and be forced to leave something behind. "They were looking for evidence that maybe you were lying. So they said... I'm sorry, sweetheart."

_Sorry?_ She's sick of that word. Sorry isn't fixing anything. It isn't bringing anyone back, and it isn't putting the right people in prison. But sometimes you can choose to be a dick. Sometimes you can choose to just take it. So she says, "Thank you."

Korina pulls the pack closer to her and takes out one of the albums she managed to pack. It's the most recent one, with the photos they all took in the spring. Polo's hair was blue. But it was horrible, patchy, and just so cringe-worthy. Absolutely hideous, but... their mother let him take them anyway. Almost like she wanted him to remember this awful hair he had. She feels her top lip tremble as she presses her hand against the photo before the door opens again.

"Korina!" A pair of feet break out in a run before arms wrap around her in a mix of protective, desperate, and grateful. She nearly drops the album, but the mere touch makes her nearly break out in sobs. His own voice is thick as he says, "Korina... I thought you didn't make it. I didn't see you or hear from you, and no one asked me about you, so I just- I assumed..."

_I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have made it. I should have died, it should have killed me, why didn't it kill me, why did it kill Polo and not me and why-_

Leon's blue eyes meet hers as he pulls back to see her again. He brushes his finger against a scratch she gained after they separated. A dog's claw caught her cheek. "Oh... That must've hurt. It doesn't look like it'll scar, so I guess that's something." He pulls his eyes away from her and looks around. Looks for someone in particular, even as the door opens once again. "Where's Polo?"

His name breaks her. Her legs give out beneath her, and Leon catches her on her way to the floor. A wailing sound leaves her, and she doesn't even realize it's her for a moment. All production stops to stare at her and the man shushing her, keeping her close. Holding her, in a way no one has in so long. She didn't realize how much she craved physical touch until now. "Don't you have anything better to do?!" he shouts harshly, brushing his fingers through her hair. "Hey, focus on me, Korina, focus on me. Sherry, are you alright?"

"I- yeah, I am. That's Polo's sister, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," he answers. "Hey, c'mon, Korina. It's just you and me..." Korina tries to do what he asks. He's taken a shower since Raccoon, just like she has, so he smells of sweat and cheap, generic soap. He feels solid, real, boiling hot, and comforting. More important than that, he feels alive and human. She can feel him breathing. The last person she held is Polo, and he wasn't- No, no she can't go back to that. Leon is here. Leon is comforting. "There she is."

Korina backs away from him and sees a little girl with tears in her eyes and cuts and bruises of her own. "You're... Sherry, huh? Claire found you?" The girl nods, wearing a red jacket far too big for her. Claire's jacket. "So you know-... knew Polo?" She nods again, the tears starting to spill over as she recognizes what it is Korina is asking her. "Come here. It's alright," she says to the girl, and Sherry flies into her arms, tucking herself in between Korina and Leon. Korina wonders if Sherry even realizes who she is.

Somewhere in the tears, the little girl asks, "Did he hurt?"

Undoubtedly. "No, sweetheart. He didn't." Korina holds her as she cries, probably the first time she can get it out either. Above the trio is a man impatiently tapping his foot, watching them with narrowed eyes. Korina takes a deep breath, keeping her anger to a simmer and spits, "Can we help you?"

"I'm taking Sherry."

"And who the fuck are you?" Leon demands, clearly hearing this for the first time too. "Sherry's family is dead-"

Korina wraps her arms tighter around the child in her arms. "Which is why she's in the custody of the state. I'm Derek Simmons-"

"Bullshit she's going anywhere with you." Korina can feel her anger simmering over, boiling even. She places her shoulder between Simmons and the child in her arms, her gaze hateful. He pauses, eyes narrowing at her. "You weren't there. You can't take care of her like any of us can." _They wanted your help for a reason. They know you'll want something to do with everything, and you won't drag this child with you._

Korina would rather die. Though, at the moment, that might not have been saying much at all.

Simmons is fascinated by it, that much she can see, and Korina feels the girl shift in her arms, and Leon is already sagging in defeat. "Korina... they have to-"

"No."

"Korina, we're not in any position-"

"I don't care."

"I do!" Leon snaps, and Korina turns to view him. Her gaze is still heated, even as Leon's is hot and pleading for her to understand too. "Korina, you just sat here in my arms and wailed for ten minutes, do you realize that? Neither of us are in any condition to help her the way she needs to be helped. Least of all you."

_We can't trust him. But how do I convince you of that, Leon?_

Sherry turns in her arms. "It's okay. He won't hurt me." Korina can't trust that! But Sherry untangles herself and stands up to follow Derek Simmons.

"If you hurt her... I will come for her." Simmons merely smiles, but it sends a chill down Korina's spine. She hates him already. Sherry takes his hand and is taken away by him and a squad of soldiers. Korina tries not to be bitter towards Leon because she knows he was just trying to help her. She stands up and offers him a hand wordlessly, which he takes. Leon laughs when she nearly topples trying to pull him up, and she can't stop her own smile.

Korina looks at the photographs one more time before putting the album back in her bag. "So where are you gonna go?" Korina asks Leon.

"I've got family I'm going to stay with for a while. Then I'm gonna iron some things out with another department," he answers. "You?"

"No clue. My mom was a single child, and my dad's sister died last year. No grandparents- they were in Raccoon too. I'm the only one left." Korina takes a deep breath, sagging as her heart twists painfully. She shouldn't be the only one left at all. It should be her, her parents, and Polo. Her grandmother too, but her grandmother has been slowly dying for years. Some days were better than others, but- oh fuck. How did she die?

Leon's hand rests on her shoulder, grounding her for a moment. "I can ask my folks if you can stay with us?"

Korina owes him enough as is. He reaches around her to open the door for her. "I-"

Someone runs into her, and Korina reaches for her knife on instinct only to remember it's not there. But then she catches the whiff of cigarettes and cheap cologne. "Korina!" Jayden sobs into her shoulder. He has one arm around her waist and the other around her neck, molding her to him. "I thought- you were in Raccoon- you didn't answer your phone-"

"Jayden, it's okay. I'm here." She sees a woman hugging Leon, much older than him, and a man beside them both. His parents. Both happy to see him alive too. "I'm- it's okay. It's alright."

"Sweetheart." Jayden's mother takes them both. Korina has known Anne for years, and the two spoke every time she passed the office and Anne was in, and that wasn't including the family dinners Korina came to. "We heard about Raccoon. Did you see-"

"I didn't, but... all of the cops were gone by the time I saw the RPD." Tears fill their eyes. The crushing reality they never wanted to hear. "I'm sorry."

_I'm so sorry. Even if it's not fucking fixing a goddamn thing._

She stays with them for a time until she feels Leon behind her, waiting but not wanting to interrupt. She pulls away and looks to him. "Korina, we went through a lot together. I'd like to stay in touch, make sure you're okay. I asked my folks if it was alright to give you the house number, so-" He holds out a slip of paper, and Korina takes it. "No matter where you go, you can always reach me, kid."

"Thank you, Leon. I'll call you as soon as I figure out where I'm going," she promises.

"With us," Jayden says, as if it's obvious. Korina blinks at him, digesting the words. "Mom and I already talked about it with her people. Until we are all on our feet, we're staying with grandma. I told 'em you'd help with the cooking since you're an absolute whiz in the kitchen, and your mom was a pharmacist, so you're gonna make sure she takes her meds too-"

"You're making sure she takes her meds, Jay," his mother chastises, and Jayden smirks as he's caught in the attempt to pass his work off on to her- again. Korina can't laugh, but she remembers the laugh it would have drawn out of her. "And I will be taking a few refresher courses in accounting. It's been forever since I used my degree, but now's better than never."

Korina smiles at them both, hot tears in her eyes again. Jay smirks. "You really thought you were going anywhere else? I'm not that much of an asshole." His mother flicks his head, and he flinches with a small glare in her direction. Korina chuckles at them both. Leon begins walking away when Jay calls, "Hey, you! Thanks for keeping my best friend alive. I'm sure she was a handful."

Leon stops, and a smile plays at his features. "I'm sure I risked my life for her more often than the other way around."

"Oh, I'm sure," Korina says sarcastically, walking towards him. She reaches him and kisses his cheek before a quick hug. "I'll stay in touch. Don't be a stranger, Officer Kennedy."


	5. Aftermath I

A/N: Good day to all! Now we are starting to get into the events of after Raccoon City. This will be the chapter that bridges between RE2 and the next game that Korina will have a hand in. The next game will be set in a similar format to Raccoon City, as in Korina will be interrogated and it will be told in flashback format, but after that, it will be told as if it's happening in the present. I might change that at some point for a particular event, but it'll just make more sense to leave this flashback format behind. That being said, enjoy the Aftermath of Raccoon and don't forget to leave a comment/review!

* * *

Korina thought two weeks off from school to move in, get comfortable, and to attend therapy sessions with a counselor Anne hired for her would be enough. She wants her to see someone to get diagnoses, but Korina thinks the talks are going well enough. She still sleeps like absolute shit, but the talking makes walking around easier, reminds her she's not in Raccoon City anymore, surrounded by the dead. It makes coming home easier, it makes grabbing a knife without shaking easier, and it makes her emotionally and mentally available to talk to her best friend. Her only friend now, except perhaps Leon.

Because Jayden has been a trooper. He has taken her mood swings in stride, been there to calm her through the initial terror of waking up after a nightmare, and he always knows when Korina needs to be grounded. Jayden gives her space, but not so much space that she's utterly alone. She can finally walk outside without having a gun on her person, though she has to keep a knife with her. And Jayden has been putting off going back to school so Korina isn't alone on her first day.

Yes, she thought two weeks off from school would be fine.

The alarm doesn't wake her up necessarily, but it does jolt her from the dozing state she typically finds herself in. Not sleep, since that would suggest she's unaware of her surroundings and completely unconscious. She jumps, pulling her knife from beneath her pillow, but the alarm isn't afraid and it doesn't attack. Inanimate, an object that can't attack her. Korina blows out a breath and lays back in her bed, preparing to do the routine she has formed.

Anne, as soon as Korina settled enough, took the girl out shopping. It turns out, Korina doesn't always have to wear her own hand sewn clothes, though she has been working on rebuilding her wardrobe. She doesn't have near enough money to afford all of her materials, but that might be for the better. Whatever she made would be horrendous. But the pastel colors feel strange now, and the frilliness she used to adore doesn't quite fit her anymore. But she asked Anne to buy a few of them anyway, thinking maybe, just maybe, she could settle back into them.

So she puts it on. A white shirt with fringe down the front and a light pink skirt that reaches her knees. A typical outfit for Korina Pachis. But it feels foreign, uncomfortable, and... dare she say it... childish.

Korina smiles at the mirror, a practiced, plastic thing. The bruises and cuts on her face are mostly gone now, except for one that looks it might scar. It's from a window one of the dead burst open, and the glass caught her bottom lip just the right way. Some of the skin on her lip looks misshapen, like something obviously happened, and there's a small line that extends past the bottom. The scar tissue is white against her skin, still new, but Korina finds she doesn't really mind it. It's almost an ornament. A bit of physical proof that she's not insane, despite everything.

But it throws off the whole damn outfit. Korina peels it off and tosses it to the side. She picks out a pair of dark jeans and a grey shirt, plain and relatively baggy, before throwing on the jacket from Raccoon. It survived mostly unhurt during its time in the city, and Korina just feels safer when she has it on. She's still not sure who it belonged to, but it's hers now. Perhaps the only bit of living proof of the officer, and the tear on the shoulder she has stitched back together reminds her it was all real too.

Jayden groans when Korina enters his room, hair an absolute mess and blankets piled around him as he throws them off at night. "Wakey, wakey," she sings, opening the curtains in his room. He hates waking up early, always has, but he's been getting up for her recently. She's not sure why. "Time to get up and get ready for another day of hell school."

"Are you sure you don't want another week?" Jayden groans.

"Positive. I stay in here much longer and I might lose my mind even more," Korina says, reaching into his closet and grabbing his first day of school clothes. "I figure you can wear what you wore on our first day back in Raccoon, so I let you sleep in a little bit more."

She tosses his clothes onto the foot of the bed, and he chuckles. "God, you are the absolute best," he says, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. He squints at her through morning bleariness "And already dressed... couldn't sleep again?"

Korina shrugs her shoulders. She doesn't want to worry him. "It'll be fine," she tells him before leaving. The house Anne's mother has is large and welcoming, a place the woman has lived for the better part of forty odd years. It has raised four kids in its walls, and now it'll be helping two more into adulthood. The decor is outdated, but Korina finds it comforting. It's almost lost in time. There are a few updates scattered throughout, but it remains primarily the same as it always has.

Anne is downstairs, dressed for another day of refresher courses. The nearest college is letting her take a series of tests and reviewing what has either been updated or changed entirely or that she's forgotten, so she can be back at work for the first time in ten years next week. A bit of goodwill for a family who lost such an important piece in such a tragedy. "Good morning," Anne greets, handing her a cup of coffee. Anne had scarcely believed it when Korina drank coffee the first time, but those first few days... black coffee, as awful as it is, is better than sleeping.

"Good morning. Jay is awake and getting dressed," she reports, sitting at the table. Korina picks out an apple. "And I left a lunch for the nurse to give Grandma, so all she has to do is heat it up and give it to her."

"Thank you so much," Anne tells her, kissing her on the top of her head. "I'll be back this evening- eat dinner without me, I'm in for a long day. If this professor doesn't kill me, my husband's family will."

Officer Raymond's family wants to make a gravestone and have a service for him in their hometown, but Anne has been so busy it just hasn't been at the forefront of her mind. Anne doesn't have time to consider where to have a service or when, and Korina has yet to see any of the other families do the same for their loved ones. Some people are hoping their loved ones will return via miracle. But Anne knows he's gone, and she can't process anything but caring for what she has left. Not even the grieving process. Just making sure Korina is alright, learning to live with her mother again, taking care of Jayden, but Korina does what she can. She tries to be self sufficient. Sometimes it just doesn't work.

Anne leaves, and Korina hollers up to Jayden that she's gone. Jayden's reply sounds muffled through toothpaste, and so Korina sits at the table and eats her apple as she waits.

The sun is shining today. Raccoon seemed to be in a never ending darkness those last few days. Or like the sun was blocked. The sky has no clouds today, and the grass is so green in the front yard. Her heart slows down with the serenity, a sort of empty feeling settling in. She knows it's stupid. She knows she should be grateful she's alive, but there's just-

The phone rings. Korina jumps, heart pumping generously for a moment. "Fuck!" she curses, grabbing the butter knife at her side and using it as defense. But it's just the phone. She walks to the landline and answers it. "Hello?"

"Korina," Leon greets, sounding exhausted.

"Leon," she responds. Normally he calls in the afternoon, when he knows she's home and cooking dinner, mostly so she has someone to talk to while she does it. Jayden plays a board game with his grandmother so to keep her entertained and doing something. Why he's calling so early, she isn't sure. "You sound tired."

"Didn't sleep well." She understands completely. He moves the receiver away from his mouth and blows out a sigh before returning, and he says, "So, if I remember correctly, someone is going to be attending her first day of school."

Korina huffs a chuckle. "Yeah. Figured it was time. I can't hide out here forever."

"No one would blame you if you did," he returns softly. Understanding. Because he does, he knows how hard it is. Though they never talk about it, they both know the struggles are shared. There's something comforting in it. "But since you're not, I want to see you this weekend. I head out to my assignment next week, so I don't know when I'll get to visit or how often these phone calls will be."

He's talked about it, coming to visit her in this home, and she discussed visiting him and his parents. Korina thought she might hate it, might even want to run away from it, but excitement bubbles in her chest at the suggestion. And from little she has told Anne and Jayden about Raccoon, both of them are interested in meeting Leon, Sherry, and Claire. But not Ada. Korina hasn't told them about her. She doubts that she ever will. "I'll tell Anne and start planning dinner. No way you'll leave here hungry."

"Mmm, I wouldn't be sure. Feeding me is like feeding a small army," he jokes, and Korina smiles at it. Raccoon didn't take that away from him.

"I'll take the challenge," Korina returns as she hears Jayden stomp down the stairs. "I'll talk to you later. It's time for us to go now."

"Okay. Good luck. Call me if you need me," he tells her, sounding stern for a moment. Like an older brother or something.

Korina hums a confirmation, before picking up the new backpack Anne bought for her. Korina doesn't want to unpack her backpack, not yet. She just needs time before she can do all that. Her new one is mostly empty, only a few notebooks and pens, but Korina finds it a comforting weight nonetheless. Jayden swings by his pack and lifts it up, grabbing his keys from a small bowl by the door.

Outside, the kids climbing onto the bus stop and stare at them, as they have ever since Korina moved in with them. Jayden throws his pack into the back seat, and Korina climbs in with her bag stashed at her feet. "Alright, alright, let's see. What are we gonna play?" Jayden asks, running his fingers over his many tapes. "Don't you like Boyz II Men?"

"They're decent," Korina says, leaning back in the seat and kicking her feet up on the dash. "You act like it's more than three minutes to get to the school."

"Gotta make a statement," Jayden returns, shooting her a smirk. But he picks on and sticks it in, blaring something Korina doesn't care for. She doesn't hate necessarily, but she certainly wouldn't choose it on her own. He throws the car in reverse and drives to school like a maniac, making what should be a three minute trip in one. It's just far enough it's inconvenient to walk, but so close the car ride ends fairly quickly.

Students stare at them both as the enter the parking lot, and Jayden throws his car back into a parking spot without looking, looking smug and like the cocky bastard Korina knows he portrays well. Before the car stops moving, she picks up her bag, opens the door, and steps out, earning more stares and whispers for the two, and ultimately forcing Jayden to share the spotlight. He doesn't mind though, instead blowing her a kiss as he cuts the car and steps out too.

"Ready for it?" he murmurs, pulling his bag on.

Korina tries not to let the sheer amount of people intimidate her. "I survived Raccoon City before it was destroyed," she answers, "so how hard can this really be?"

"You're right. I'm sure these guys are dumber than the dead." Korina smiles, though the mere mention of them makes her stomach clench with anxiety. Jayden and Anne know only because Korina thought they have aright to know the true nature of the hero Officer Douglas, as well as the rest of RPD, was. But he means no harm by the comment, and he tries his best for her, and that's all she can ever ask for. And far more than she could expect. Jayden leads the way, and she allows him to take point. The crowd parts for the two of them, and she can hear that a few of them noticed the Raccoon City Police Department stickers on Jayden's car. She straightens up further.

The murmurs stop as they go further into the school and to the office. Korina, in a moment of complete neurotic control freakism packed both her report cards and her brother's report cards, thinking they might need them for the next school to know where they were at in terms of academics. It hurt to only turn hers in. But the schedule they give her is fairly accurate to her previous one, so close that only two classes are flipped. "Looks almost the same," Jayden murmurs, pouring over his own.

"Yeah... it does," she murmurs back before thanking the woman at the front.

"Oh, wait!" she calls, stopping them before they can go much further. "You both have a guide for your first day, or week. It's fairly far into the semester, so they'll be showing you around and to class. They're seniors who have done well in school and have special permissions to do this for the two of you."

"Thank you," Jayden says kindly, though Korina finds she doesn't care for the idea. But soon enough, two people walk towards them, one of them a beautiful young woman smiling directly at Korina. She's prom queen level pretty, complete with pearly white teeth and perfect hair. "Tell me she's the one I got."

She holds her hand out to Korina. "You must be Korina Pachis. I'm Leah Winters, and I will be your guide for your first week here at Jean Luc High School," she says, and Korina can hear a similar introduction from Jayden's guide, a male. The male is more nerdy, with suspenders and glasses and a pencil behind his ear. Korina halfway wishes she could change with him. "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask before we go to your first class?"

"I don't," Korina says simply, rubbing her palms on her jeans to rid herself of the moisture she can feel building up. The halls are starting to build with more students. It's a bit crowded for Korina's tastes. "Can we... hurry up? I don't like crowds."

"That's no problem," Leah responds, taking a look at her schedule before starting to lead the way. "So welcome to Jean Luc. Where are you from?"

Korina almost doesn't want to answer. "I'm from Raccoon City." The government has been trying to cover it up, but a few other survivors left with photographs and other manners of proof of the things that happened there. There are conspiracy theories abound, but whether you believe the cover story or the theories, all of them blame Umbrella. Which, Korina supposes, is a start.

Leah is interested immediately. "Really? So you made it out before it- y'know?"

"Barely," Korina responds blandly. She doesn't want to talk about it. "Are you from here?"

"Oh, yeah, but nothing ever really happens around here. We're not really big at all, so... But do you know why-"

Korina takes a deep breath and smiles as politely as she can. "Leah, don't take this the wrong way, but if you ask me one more question about Raccoon, I'll strangle you." The senior seems to drop it as they come to a stop in front of her first class. Korina enters and takes a seat toward the back, hoping for the rest of the world to just leave her alone for five goddamn minutes.

It isn't long before other students are filing in, Jayden included, and he takes the seat next to her. "How's the hottie?" he asks, brows wiggling.

"Feel free to answer her questions about Raccoon," Korina responds, a bit of a gripe in her voice. Jayden winces. "God I hope it isn't like that all day."

He takes one of her hands in his and presses a kiss to it just as three boys approach. Two of them appear to be football players, but one of them is definitely into basketball if his shirt is anything to go by. He's easily a head taller than the other two, and his body is lined with toned muscle. And a pretty boy, more so than Jayden, a difficult thing to accomplish. Korina ignores them, opting to trace shapes on the wood of the desk top.

One of the football players with skin the color of wet sand clears his throat. "You're taking up one of our spots," he says when she flicks her eyes up to him. "See, we each take up these three right here."

"Then I guess you need to find another three," she responds. Jayden whips his head at that. Once, a long time ago it feels, she would given up the seat without much of a fight or fuss, but now? Fuck them. This is her spot. The one thing she knows for sure came out of Raccoon City? You fight for your spot, for your right to be exactly where you are, and fuck anyone who dares to try to take it. Even something as stupid as a seat. "I see plenty over there that you can bully people out of. Though I have no idea why they'd be intimidated by any of you."

"What did you say?" The final one is pasty, literally like white glue, though the darkness of his hair suggests he isn't an albino. "You're just the new fucking kid. Act like it and find somewhere else to sit."

Jayden is the one who responds. "That a threat, glue bottle?"

"More like a promise," the dark one says, stepping closer to the desk.

Korina runs her tongue along the front of her teeth. Jayden ducks his head, well aware of and well acquainted with her agitation by now. "It's not worth it," he murmurs to her, a hand on her arm. "You and I both know that. We can move-"

"No." It's final. "I've spent too much time running from fights. They want to try me? Let them." Because there is another thing she learned in Raccoon City: she's stronger than she ever believed. Hunting and shooting were things she knew before it started, how to shoot and how to distract. But fending off things that reach you is something she hadn't known, and Leon taught her a few moves just in case they came across a threat more human. And even if she never used them against humans, it was certainly worth knowing to stun the dead in small spaces.

"Your funeral," glue bottle says, pulling her arm hard enough she can feel it try to snap out of place.

And her reaction is instinctive, built purely on adrenaline and nightmare experiences these boys can never dream of. The punch to his diaphragm sucks the air out of his body, and he falls into another desk, into another student, who says nothing but lets him with a distasteful flare. Korina stays planted in the desk, though the pain against her knuckles makes her feel better somehow, more grounded and at home.

"What the fuck?!" the dark one shouts, reaching for her shirt and lifting her so she's bent awkwardly against her desk to face him. Anger etches his features, but she doesn't give a damn. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

"Korina Pachis." Survivor of Raccoon City.

The basketball player has some sense as he halts his other friend's punch, just before Jayden acts too. "Now, now, let's not get too hasty. This girl is the one from Raccoon City. Which means you must be too," he says, gesturing to Jayden. The dark skinned one's grip slacks, and she can easily pull herself out, but she won't. His mouth drops. "So... were either of you there for the explosion?"

Korina doesn't say anything, but Jayden's glance gives her away. Glue bottle seems to have a new appreciation too. Korina sits back down as the fingers fall from her collar, smoothing it out. Luckily he didn't fuck up her jacket. She just might have punched him anyway. "You sure you don't wanna move?" glue bottle asks, a bit more hesitant this time.

Korina's answer is sure. "I'm positive."

* * *

The day goes by with little incident. Word of her punching the glue bottle, actually named Lym, passed around like wildfire, and so did her being from Raccoon City. Multiple people ask her multiple times throughout the day about what happened and if any of the theories are true, but Korina keeps her gaze straight and her mouth shut. She's in enough danger as it is, and if she goes around opening her mouth and sharing? No, she would much prefer to not have the government up her ass about that. But they back off, well aware she has no issue with bruised knuckles or knocking out someone else's teeth.

The final class doesn't come soon enough, and Korina gratefully sets her things down in the back. She's one of the last to arrive, so it surprises her that she's in the back. Jayden himself has taken a seat towards the front, and she feels a warmth in her heart for his thoughtfulness. He shoots her a smile as she takes out another notebook and a pen just as the final student of the class enters.

The basketball player from earlier has been in all of her classes, literally, though he's kept his distance. When he sees her, he tries not to react before taking his seat next to her. Korina tucks hair behind her ear and rolls up the sleeve of her jacket. She's been struggling all day trying to get it to agree with her and do as she says versus what it wants to do. Of course, she knows it's inanimate and not actually doing anything.

The basketball player watches her with feigned disinterest. "You know, it'd be easier if you got a smaller jacket," he says, as if it's the simplest thing in the world.

Korina supposes to anyone else, it probably is. "I'm sure it would be, but I won't be getting rid of this jacket any time soon," she says, writing the date and the class at the top of the page. "It's got... history behind it."

"Doesn't mean you have to wear it."

Korina clicks her tongue. This guy is getting on her nerves. "So the first thing you say to me is that I should move because you're entitled to the random seat I had chosen in the first class of the day, and now you're going to try to talk to me by insulting my jacket. You're not setting a good track record for yourself, you know," she says, noticing there's still a couple minutes until class starts, and the teacher certainly isn't in any hurry to start either.

He doesn't seem to care much, but he does raise a brow at that. He says, "I didn't say you should move. If you'll remember, correctly, I was the one who told them to back off."

He isn't wrong, Korina thinks, but her jaw sets anyway. "After I nearly knocked your friend's teeth out."

"I remember he was about to knock yours."

"Tch. He could try."

"And I didn't insult the jacket. I just said you should wear a different one."

Korina rolls her eyes and keeps quiet. He smirks in return. "You said your name is Korina Pachis?" She doesn't answer. "Hm. So I prove you wrong, and you respond with the silent treatment? Interesting way to react." Korina stubbornly remains quiet. "Tell me, does your friend do this too? Or is this just you? Because it seems awfully childish. Are the two of you dating? You're comfortable enough around each other to be dating, but he isn't quite so protective over the guys clearly drooling over you. Is he your brother?"

"Do you ever shut up?" Korina growls.

"Not when I want to be noticed," he returns.

The teacher enters. A middle aged guy with glasses and a pencil behind his ear, with dark brown hair and stubble dotting his lower face. "So I am running a little late today, but no biggie. I heard we have two new students in this class? Well, hello, I am Mr. Wyndham, and I like to have my students introduce themselves on the first day, maybe answer a few questions if you feel up to it. Where are you- there you are! Come, come, you and you."

Korina hasn't been forced to introduce herself even once, and it has been her preference. But somehow, with the way Mr. Wyndham is treating it, she finds she doesn't mind so much. Instead of it being something to satisfy the curiosity of others, it's more like being welcomed to a group of friends. Minus all the staring. She stands and makes her way to the front with Jayden, who starts. "I'm Jayden Douglas, from Raccoon City. My dad was a cop, and my mom is currently working on getting a job as an accountant. Only child. Not much else to say," he says to the class, bumping his arm against Korina's.

"Korina Pachi, also from Raccoon City. Jayden's my best friend, so in the wake of the... tragedy, I've been living with him and his family."

Hands shoot into the air. Jayden points to one. "So were you two there for nuclear incident caused by Umbrella Pharm?"

She huffs and rolls her eyes, but Jayden only laughs. "No, I wasn't. Uhm... you?"

"Is it true the cannibal murders were actually zombies?"

"I'm not answering that. Zombies? Seriously?" Jayden snorts, hiding the truth.

Before he can pick another, Korina says, "If it's about Raccoon City and its demise, put your hand down. For you, it's just some tragedy that happened to someone else, but that's not what it is to us. I was born there, and so was Jay. His father died there, getting people to safety, and my family's gone. Stop trying to find out things that didn't happen."

Slowly, the hands fall back into their laps until only one in the back- her favorite neighbor's- is still up. "What?" she grounds out, wishing it were anyone but him.

"So are you two dating, or are you available?" he asks.

Korina shakes her head. "I'm not even going to dignify that-"

"She is very much single," Jayden cuts in, almost too happy. His hands circle around her shoulders, grasping the tops of her arms, and she tenses up instinctively. He responds by dropping one arm so she feels less trapped.

"Pimping me out now?" Korina asks with a smirk in his direction.

"That suggests I'd get something out of it." Jayden winks at her before the two return to their seats. His gaze lingers on her before he turns to face the front, and Korina ignores the male next to her as class lecture starts. English has always been a fairly easy class for her, and this guy is the same as all her English teachers before- though perhaps a bit more distracted.

A note is set down on the corner of her desk, and Korina ignores it at first. Then another one appears. She ignores that one too. Then a third.

Korina huffs and grabs the sheets, opening them up. The first one he set down has an awful handwriting, almost a chicken scrawl, but she can still make it out fairly well.

**I think I like your best friend. He's pretty cool.**

**You're really going to ignore me when I finally give you a compliment?**

**Class is almost over, so I'm going to skip ahead on my plan. Name's Aiden Nivans.**

Korina rolls her eyes before deciding what to write back to him. She sets it down on his desk just as the bell rings. She stuffs her notebook and pen into a random pocket and gets up, almost running from the room and grabbing Jayden by the arm before he can get some girl's number. Korina only glances back once she reaches the end of the hall to see his reaction.

He's smirking, so much taller than most of the general population and easy to pick out. He doesn't seem to care at all that she basically gave him the middle finger, and she rolls her eyes as she continues to lead Jayden out of the school, back to the car, and to the house.

* * *

_It's fast. Faster than she remembers._

_Korina slides beneath the closing door, but she knows it doesn't offer her a moment to breathe. It'll breath through like it's paper. And it does. Over her panting, she can hear the skittering of claws. Fuck. They're here too, gunning for her life._

_Korina grabs onto a handle to help her make a turn. She needs to lose them. She has to lose them. But they're so much faster than her and-_

_"AHHH!" she screams, something latching onto her ankle and making her fall down. It bites into her leg, and she hears the skittering above stop and lunge. But it doesn't lunge at her, it lunges at the thing that's already bitten halfway through her ankle. And the heavy steps of that thing are coming closer and closer, and he's coming around the corner, and he's holding- he's holding-_

She jolts awake with a scream, her hand over her mouth. Korina knows she's in for a rough weekend since she's been dozing more often than sleeping, but it doesn't stop her from hating herself for it nonetheless. Of course she has to catch up on the sleep her body needs, of fucking course. But Leon will be with her tomorrow, and that's something she hasn't known she needed so much. Well, really, she's just ignored it.

The door to her room is opened, quickly but not so quickly as to startle her. Jayden stands in her doorway, shirt forgotten and very much only wearing the first pair of pants he found on the floor of his room. "Korina?" he calls softly, making sure she's awake. It's a reaction from trial and error over three weeks. The only way he can help her in any capacity. Or Anne for that matter, as she pads up behind her son, hand on her heaving chest.

"I'm sorry," Korina murmurs, drawing her knees to her chest. "I didn't mean to-"

"We know," Anne says quietly.

Jayden spares her a glance. "I got her, mom." Anne looks between the two, and Korina knows why. At the end of the day, they are still two teenagers, very much subject to their hormones. And the two have a past. They've kissed before, even tentatively dated, but it's the past. Korina hasn't just changed from the person in Raccoon City only a mere month ago, she's... evolved. She can never go back to the girl who owed it to herself and to Jayden to see if they did have something more. That girl is too far gone. She was gone the moment she saw someone eating someone else.

"I love you," Anne murmurs, and Jayden shuts the door behind him.

Korina makes room for him in her bed. He notes the blankets have been thrown to the bed, so he picks them up before settling in her bed. He sits up beside her, just setting them down for now, and wraps an arm around her shoulder. Jayden presses a comforting kiss to her head, but she remains rooted to her spot, her heart still beating as if she's still there, the memory of her brother's death playing over and over in her mind.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jayden asks softly, pressing another soft kiss to her head.

Yes, her soul screams. No, her heart whispers back. "I can't," Korina murmurs, her throat thickening.

"It's alright." His hand rubs her arm soothingly. "That's alright."


End file.
